Happy New Year - I hope 2025 is your best year yet. If you're anything like me, you probably feel like time is flying by. The change in the Gregorian calendar is a good a time as any to cut out the unnecessary distractions and focus on what really matters to you… Own The Now.
—---
“You have to recognise that every 'out front' maneuver you make is going to be lonely, but if you feel entirely comfortable, then you're not far enough ahead to do any good. That warm sense of everything going well is usually the body temperature at the centre of the herd.”
As I laid down on the lumpy single bed in the cramped Gare de Nord hotel room, a stranger in the other bed a few feet away, I closed my eyes. It was 3am and my mind was racing. What was I doing here with just my clothes, wallet, and a borrowed Blackberry? Why had I agreed to share a room with someone I'd met hours before on the Eurostar?
The words of my soon to be boss were still ringing in my ears - “...you’ve got the job whether you do it or not. It’s simply a case of whether you want to come into the office on the front foot with your head held high or if you want to have a mark against your name, to make yourself a target….”.
The truth was, I had expected this challenge - I wasn't the first new recruit to face it, but I would be the last. Six or seven people had gone before me in the preceding 6 years. The rumors about what it entailed were out there, but never openly discussed.
I was a sales-trader at an American investment bank when a close colleague asked me to interview his best client - a hedge fund. At the time, I knew little about hedge funds - my focus had been mutual funds. This particular fund was ascending rapidly, with a reputation for brilliant, ruthless people and cutting-edge investment approaches. I wasn't actively seeking a change - I loved my job, my colleagues, and my lifestyle.
The night before my first interview, I had to take my biggest client out for dinner and drinks. I showed up mildly hungover, somewhat irritated about lying to my boss about a lunchtime appointment. But the challenging discussions and intriguing questions sparked my interest enough to continue the process, though still with limited expectations of making a change.
After the first round of interviews, I was intrigued enough by their line of questioning and the challenging nature of the discussions, to do some research and continue along the path - with very little expectations of actually making a change.
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I interviewed with various people at the firm, all with the aim of getting to a final interview with one of the firm’s founders - one half of the name over the door and very much the public face and voice of the firm.
As I progressed through multiple interviews toward a final meeting with one of the firm's founders, I began hearing whispers about 'The Challenge' - new recruits were expected to visit multiple locations in under 24 hours with limited funds. In preparation, my dad and I strategised possible routes.
The firm's offices sat just off the Strand in London, across from the Eurostar terminal. While Paris seemed the obvious first stop, my dad and I had mapped an ambitious alternative: flying south to Nice, then driving through Monaco and Italy before swinging up through Switzerland and back via Cardiff. The route would hit five countries in 24 hours while preserving the budget.
I made sure to bring my passport to the interview.
The final interview was, as expected, challenging. Before it started, a number of people I had previously met with, came in to wish me luck and tell me they were rooting for me which gave me a welcome boost.
As I waited in the reception area, I noticed John Masters' quote mounted above the coffee machine: 'You have to recognize that every "out front" maneuver you make is going to be lonely...' The words seemed to mock my current situation.
The interview itself was intense - the kind where you can feel your future shifting with each response. As it drew to a close, the atmosphere in the room changed subtly. The founder reached into his jacket pocket and slid an envelope across the table, a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
I was being asked to travel to 5 different European cities in 5 different European countries, taking less than 24 hours and spending less than the £500 in the envelope he had given me. He gave me a blackberry and told me that I would get extra points for documenting my journey on email to the senior leadership of the firm - the more colourful my descriptions the more points I would get. I would also get bonus points for each different form of transport. I would love points for every hour over 24 I took and every £ over 500 I spent.
Despite expecting something like this, I felt a resistance to the process. I felt like a performing monkey being asked to jump through hoops. When I shared this with another partner at the firm along with my soon to be boss, that's when he told me I had the job either way - that it was just a choice between coming in with a strong reputation.
It was 5pm on a Thursday evening. I decided to push outside of my comfort zone and take on the challenge.
I headed for Paddington to catch the Heathrow Express, but fate had other plans. The Underground ground to a halt between stations, and after an excruciating 45-minute wait, we learned that a fire at Paddington had suspended all services. With rush hour traffic choking London's streets, both my timeline and budget would be destroyed by taking a cab to Heathrow.
I aborted in a sweaty panic - it was also a heatwave in London - and decided to take the default route to Waterloo and jump on the Eurostar to Paris.
This was 2006 and the Blackberry was one of the old ones with the scroll wheel on the side. There was no way I could book a ticket ahead of time, so after navigating my way through the sticky and congested station to the Eurostar ticket desk, I discovered that the next departure was at 7.30pm. This would get me into Paris at 10pm - enough time to get to the airport and get out again.
There was one problem - it was sold out. Deciding to improvise and backing myself to sell a story, I bought a ticket for the 8.30pm train and decided I would just try to get on the earlier one.
The guard at the gate took some persuading - think pleading - but the ridiculous nature of my story, along with me showing him the piece of paper with the challenge on it and trying to demonstrate that this wasn't my blackberry - he decided to let me through and I was in business.
Unsurprisingly, the train was packed so I had to stand in the buffet car and try to strategise on my new route - but I had 2.5 hours to work on it. After grabbing a bite to eat and a beer (on my own dime!) I began using the blackberry to search for routes, at the same time balancing my Nokia flip-phone between my ear and my shoulder and strategising with my dad.
As the new plan started to take shape, I began to relax and the guy on the next table tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what I was up to - as whatever it is, it sounds exciting. Over a couple of beers I told him about the job, the challenge, the unexpected twist at the first hurdle and the fact that not only was I having to improvise, but that I had essentially blagged my way onto this train as part of it all.
He was suitably impressed and while he couldn't see anyway he could help, he was going to be supporting me on my quest.
As we got closer to Paris, I was feeling pretty good about my prospects and I had enjoyed getting to know my new friend - a Belgian member of the European Parliament en route to Brussels.
About 30 minutes out from Paris Gare Du Nord, the train stopped. Initially, we were told we were being held momentarily. But a moment turned into minutes and then came the news. Due to signalling issues, we were going to be stopped for at least 1 hour.
We eventually rolled into the station at just after 11.30pm. Any hope I had of getting anywhere had been all but eliminated. All the rental car outlets were closed, a cab to another country would have blown through my budget due to the central location of Paris in a huge landmass. The best I could hope for was an early plane or train the next morning - I had to take the huge hit of almost 10 lost hours.
Once again I had to improvise but I had also had the unexpected boon of my new Belgian friend being in a similar predicament of needing to get to Brussels but not being able to do so now until the next morning. He suggested that to preserve my budget, I could share the hotel room that he was going to book and that the European parliament would be paying for.
He also suggested that if I catch the same train as him to Brussels, he could then pay for the taxi from the train station to the airport, allowing me to save more cost and get on the move again. I considered what was at stake - and probably didn't consider the risk of not really knowing this guy - and decided to do it.
The next leg unfolded like clockwork: early train to Brussels, flight to Dublin, then to Cardiff where my dad shuttled me to the London train. Despite hitting multiple targets, the earlier delays meant I'd be returning to London after 25 hours, one city and country short of the goal.
My final throw of the dice, in an effort to show my initiative and try to use the rules to my advantage, was to stop at a foreign embassy in London, en route from the train station to the firm’s office. My thinking being that technically, Embassies are sovereign soil of the country occupying them and if I could find a way of proving I had been on their “soil” that could constitute another country, if not another city.
It turned out the Australian embassy had an ATM - so I stopped off there and withdrew some cash, taking a receipt of withdrawal as evidence.
As I checked back in with the security in the lobby of the building, the time in London was 6.32pm. I was extremely satisfied with myself, if not a little frazzled and very smelly.
Throughout this chaotic 25.5 hours, I had been diligently and tirelessly documenting my journey, my challenges, my feelings and my plans to the leadership of the firm via a barrage of emails, laced with humour and emotion.
As I rode the elevator to the top floor of the building - a floor fully occupied by the firm, with sweeping views of the Thames and the London skyline, I had expected some sort of welcome party, or at least some of the partners to be ready and waiting to shake my hand, commend me on my efforts and welcome me to the team.
Of course it was 6.30pm on a summer Friday - the markets had been closed for 2 hours. All the senior people had jetted off to their country homes or foreign boltholes. The guy on the front desk of the firm’s office, was quite sure what to say to me or who to get to come and meet me. As I stood there exhausted and he looked around a little confused, one of the partners walked by and almost as an afterthought acknowledged that I was back.
After noting down the time on the outside of my envelope containing my receipts and tickets - and making a comment about me being late - he tried to muster some enthusiasm in saying well done, told me to enjoy my weekend and that they would be in touch.
That was it. To say that I was a little shocked, dejected and annoyed would be an understatement.
Not to mention the guilt I felt on Monday morning, going back to my desk and my boss expressing deep concern about my absence on Friday “due to an infection”.
Ultimately, I got the job. My former boss found the whole story hilarious when I finally confessed. My new boss became a good friend and mentor, and while other partners questioned my decision to trust a stranger or not push for another city, the founder appreciated my embassy innovation.
The move transformed my career and life experiences, though I would later regret leaving - a story I've shared before. Most importantly, this challenge taught me invaluable lessons about adapting to the unexpected and pushing beyond comfort zones. It prepared me for the next phase of my career... and gave me an unforgettable story to tell.
Challenge Accounting (prices in 2006 - for those keeping score ;)
Tube fair - £1.50
Cab to Waterloo - £12.50
Eurostar one-way ticket - £139
Paris Hotel - free
Train Paris - Brussels - £60
Plane Brussels - Dublin - £90
Plane Dublin - Cardiff - £50
Train Cardiff - London - £40
Cab to office - £22………………£415
Cities: London - Paris - Brussels - Dublin - Cardiff
Countries: England - France - Belgium - Ireland - Wales - Australia*
Modes of Transport: Underground train, overground train, plan, car
