The Leadership House

CHAPTER 11HIGH NOON

“Changing an organization, a company, a country—or a world—begins with the simple step of changing yourself.”

—Tony Robbins

It was five minutes to noon on the following day. All the board members sat around the table in the DGTLY conference room. Nobody had said a word yet, save for a brief ‘hi’ or ‘hello’. Felix could feel the tension in the air and thought, “This is a bit like the opening scene in Sergio Leone's epic western film Once Upon A Time In The West. This is definitely not going to be a standard board meeting.”

Normally when the board convened, Felix and Mark sat at one long side of the table, and Douglas and Peter usually sat opposite them. Today, Felix had taken a seat at the head side of the table, leaving Mark to his left and the other two to the right. He thought that this new seating arrangement might create an atmosphere less oppressive than the usual board meeting atmosphere. Instead of two opposing parties who talk at each other, like those in the British Parliament seem to prefer, he wanted one team to work together on solving the problems the company was facing. Felix wanted to talk with the other board members.

He looked at Mark and noticed him nervously swaying back and forth in his chair. “We've come quite far together,” Felix thought to himself, before looking into Mark's eyes as if to reassuringly say, “Calm down. It'll be okay.”

Suddenly, Peter interrupted the silence. “We're all here, Felix.” His tone was one of boredom and ...