One of the great myths of business is that your reputation is your most precious asset – and that you can only lose it once.
In truth, throughout my business career I have been meeting buccaneers who have been rehabilitated and are now feted. They might have been personally bankrupt, mismanaged companies or been thrown off boards for scurrilous behaviour. But, provided someone has not been convicted of mass murder, it seems most things are forgivable.
As François de La Rochefoucauld said: “Whatever ignominy or disgrace we have incurred, it is almost always in our power to re-establish our reputation.”
The most straightforward way of repairing your reputation is to become very rich. It is extraordinary how large sums of money bring on bouts of amnesia in the grandest investment bankers who would previously have been the harshest critics.
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