Friday, July 09, 2010

A Stern Reprimand Coming from the King

Today Rex got a call from the client I refer to as The King, saying that he was writing us a memo about everything we've done wrong over the past few months. I've been reflecting upon the relative importance/priorities of different areas in my life since my mom passed away last month, and the pending reprimand caused me to harken back to this post from late April of this year...

Today's pet peeve: people who need to be treated like royalty.

In my investment banking work, all of my clients tend to be multi-millionaires. I enjoy working with clients who are down to earth despite the companies they have built and fortunes they have amassed. It frequently plays out that the greater the fortune/enterprise (billionnaire instead of millionnaire), the humbler the entrepreneur. And then there are those who carry themselves like the royalty they imagine they are, and come off like cheesy plastic kings. This pet peeve extends to those who are sooooo important that they can't possibly fit a meeting into their busy schedules and have their big-haired assistants cancel and make up an excuse at the last minute.

Years ago, when London was two, she used to sing, "[Client Name] is in the counting house, counting out his money..." and I'm afraid I've continued to teach my daughters to disrespect people who flaunt their wealth. But I do love these pictures of the King...

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