Power.

Power? ….an interesting concept.

Who actually has the ‘power’ in your life? Your partner? Your boss ? Your parents? …all possibly hold some sort of hold over your behaviour.

In my life it’s definitely my wife.

She can make my life so bloody miserable if she isn’t happy so I try and do everything in my power to keep her smiling. This involves a cup of tea first thing in the morning – always made to exacting standards as prescribed by Mrs Clough – brewed for the correct length of time, with just the perfect amount of milk …not too much, not too little.

The day then moves forward in a positive manner…provided that ;

– no hairs are left in the sink after beard trimming
– towels are folded neatly in the bathroom
– the soap is left in the soap dish not on the side of the bath
– the toilet seat is left down
– the kitchen surfaces are not left covered in crumbs
– the fridge has no finger prints left on it
– any juice is consumed from a glass – not direct from the carton

You get the drift.

– I must also always drive slowly

Get the tea wrong – you’re screwed – the day will never recover.

Apart from the Mrs though… nobody else holds much sway over my behaviour.

I used to be in awe of certain clients and certain clients agents, architects and quantity surveyors used to be the bain of my life. I’m not sure whether I’ve grown up or just don’t give a fuck anymore but none of them hold much sway over me anymore. I know what I’m doing and I know what the costs should be for the works that I’m suggesting… so …if people start getting all cheap and shitty with me I now tend to take the higher ground and walk out.

JKSL are the best company in the field of invasive weed management so we tend to charge fees which show us a profit at the end of the job.

Working for nothing is not something we do anymore.

We also don’t do works on the basis of some future ‘huge project’ that may or may not happen.

We don’t do freebies just because somebody is (or at least thinks) they are important.

So ‘power’ pretty much removed from the equation then.

Years ago I used to ‘wine and dine’ clients and can specifically remember on one occasion taking a big developer guy out for lunch. I was paying – he chose the most expensive red wine on the menu – drank a bottle then ordered another one to quench his insatiable desire to be the fattest fucker in Manchester.

We never got any work from this guy and found out that he had in fact given works to one of our competitors and bragged about how he had screwed me over with the lunch.

I remember coming away from the lunch with a commitment never to do the same thing again – and I’ve stuck to my principles.

Perhaps the greatest power lies with being successful in what you do.

If only I could make a better cup of tea ….my life would be sorted.

Mike C