Awakening, 2nd edition (8 page)

Robert poured a black stream of coffee into a mug, threw a slice of the bright orange cantaloupe on a plate and turned in the direction of the voice. An imposing man with silver streaks in the dense mass of hair repeated his invitation. Robert added a cube of pineapple to the plate and looked around.

Good timing.
Getting some fresh air before a whole day of talking was definitely a bright idea . They ’ve got decent boats here. Could use some extra power, but still, it ’s better than nothing. Worth repeating tomorrow morning. Waterski ing would be nice , too , but it 's unlikely it would be available at this place.

He spotted a free seat and walked over to it.

“Rob,” he said briefly, extending his hand to the round-faced neighbor.

The man smiled hospitably.

“Ross,” he replied, for some reason running his left hand over his balding head.

A slender woman sitting on Ross’s left greeted him with a polite smile.

“Stella,” she said, reaching for a handshake.

Robert shook her narrow, firm palm, looking into confident hazel-green eyes, repeated his name and sat down. People at other tables were busy with introductions, but the table on the right was already beyond that initial stage. A striking blonde sat comfortably between two men, chatting briskly with them. One of them was replying softly, punctuating his words with broad smiles. The second man for the most part kept silent and contributed brief comments to the conversation, while spinning a pen that looked tiny in his massive palm.

“How did you the like the lodge?” round-faced Ross was noticea bly eager to start socializing .

“It’s nice, ” Stella said, taking her eyes off the folder that she had just begun to explore. “And the lake is gorgeous. I hope there will be enough time for a swim.”

“I doubt that, ” Robert said briefly.

Stella turned to him.

“Why?” she asked curiously. “You think we ’ll be that busy?”

“No. But the water is too cold.”

Stella gave him a dubious look.

“It’s the end of June. I swam in a lake last week.”

“It’s a different kind of lake. The water here flows down from the glaciers up North.”

“Still, worth a try, isn ’t it?”

“Nope. I’ve tried it.”

Ross apparently figured this was a great moment to jump back into the conversation he had started.

“You’ve been to this place before?” he asked, his hand making another trip to his head.

“No,” Robert replied, still looking at Stella. “I tried it this morning.”

Stella smiled.

“So there’s a beach. Meaning people are expected to swim.”

Robert shook his head.

“There’s no beach here. I dove off the boat.”

“And why do you assume , ” Stella put her thin elegant finger to her cheek, “that water that ’s warm enough for you is too cold for others?”

“Because—” Robert began, but was immediately interrupted by a loud , “Let ’s get started!”

“Because,” he repeated, lowering his voice, “I know only two people who can swim in water like this. And one of them isn ’t here.”

Stella looked at him curiously, as if trying to grasp the real meaning of his words. “Perhaps, ” she said finally, her voice also lowered , “you need to consider extending your network.”

“Perhaps,” Robert agreed , looking straight into her hazel eyes.

“It is time, ” announced an imposing man at the central table , “to begin what we have gathered here for on this lovely morning.”

The last words of conversations flew like butterflies through the room, circled a round the leftmost table and dissolved in the sunny air. The imposing man left his position behind the table, walked around it, revealing a tall figure in the early stages of noble fattening, dressed in gray flannel pants and a soft V-neck jumper. Then he suddenly sat up on the table , not in the least concerned about the fact that this action did not align at all with his respectable look and attire .

“My name is Clark, ” he informed everyone, “and I ’ll speak about my role in a minute. Welcome to the most important training course of your life!”

Robert couldn’t hide an ironic smile.

“This is not a shameless marketing pitch, although it definitely sounds like one, ” said Clark, smiling sweetly. “It ’s a simple fact. Each one of you is a professional manager. This means that you ’ve spent many years preparing yourself for this role. High school, college, MBA, training courses , seminars, conferences . . . You ’ve spent thousands of hours studying and setting yourself up for success. Yet, no single consecutive week of learning in your life has been as useful for you as this week is going to be. Assuming, of course, that you intend to remain a manager.”

“Slow down for a minute, will ya?” a bitter , slightly irritated voice came from the right. “How do you know what workshops I ’ve been to and how useful they were for me?”

Everyone turned to the right, where a very neatly shaved tall man sat, fanning himself with a piece of paper.

“You’re absolutely correct, ” agreed Clark. “I don ’t have this information ; h owever, I do know that none of you has been to our workshop. And that is sufficient.”

The fanning man cheered up.

“Are you saying that no management training in the entire freaking world is a match for yours?”

Clark shrugged.

“A few come close . But not close enough . By Friday you ’ll be of the same opinion.”

The fanning man snorted ironically and put his improvised fan down on the table, where it turned into a folded nameplate bearing the name “Paul .”

Paul’s face was showing complete lack of belief in Clark ’s statements.

“But first of all, let me introduce my assistants, ” Clark extended his right hand. “Ed and Arden will be helping me during this week.”

Puny Arden, who looked like a schoolboy who had somehow managed to grow a short beard, nodded to the crowd. The better -built , full-cheeked Ed limited his greeting to a smile.

“As for me,” Clark went on , “I am in charge of this establishment. Now , let ’s get down to business. I am not going to bore you with the information you ’ve already read in your booklets. I leave it to our marketing team to come up with catchy lines about worldwide success, satisfied clients and select trivia such as the fact that the only way to get here is to be nominated by a company ’s CEO. All these claims are, by the way, one hundred percent accurate, which, as we all know, is a rarity when it comes to marketing slogans. Nevertheless, I know that it will be much more entertaining and useful for you to learn why I think that no class in the entire freaking world (he nodded briefly to Paul) is a match for the one we offer. As one of my good friends likes to put it, there are always three reasons for every thing.

“First,” Clark spread out the fingers of his left hand and curled his little finger, “we ’re the only company in this business who dare to speak the absolute truth. We call things by their name —and let me assure you, this is the only language you will ever hear in this place. The truth. Nothing but the truth. No one else even gets close to the way we discuss your true desires, ambitions and motivations. Everywhere else , you get hints, politically correct mumbling, doublespeak and sheer hypocrisy. Everywhere but here.

No one in this business—no one but us—talks openly about the real motives that bring you to work day after day. Thes e topics are under a silent, unspoken and yet completely unbreakable taboo. We are the only ones who have no respect for it. We don ’t recognize it, we ignore it and we break it. Here you get the real deal. You get the truth , which no one else in the world of business education ha s ever told you , or will ever tell you.

“Two,” a ring flashing dimly on Clark ’s ring finger, “w e don ’t stop at just speaking the truth. We analyze it. We turn it into the foundation of everything we do. And as result, we focus on the core factors that make people like you successful. This allows us to help you develop the key skills that will take you far. Very, very far. Again, these are not the skills that you can find in your job description or in MBA curricul a .

“And finally, three. It is not only about what we teach you. It is about how we teach you. No single business training course in the world does this. Again, this is not a PR line. It ’s a factual statement, confirmed by extensive market research. No single company in the world offers anything like this workshop. And no one ’s methods come even close to ours. What we offer you here is ingeniously simple and ingeniously efficient. This workshop is a unique chance given to you by the heads of your companies. It will give you an enormous competitive advantage, to which your colleagues , including those higher in the ranks , are not privy. By an y measure, it is a rare opportunity. Use it well.”

Clark curled his thumb and held for a moment the remaining “V” up in the silent air.

“This concludes my introduction, ” he said in a flatter tone. “Next, we ’re going to proceed with one day of theory and fo ur days of group exercise. At first, you will likely find the theory obvious and the exercise primitive. Don ’t let your first impression mislead you. Taking things lightly is the biggest mistake you can make here. It will take you a few days to realize fully the true meaning of what I ’ve just said, so for now simply trust me on this one. Deciding to take it too easy for too long may cost you dearly.

“Finally, a few simple rules of engagement and we ’re good to go. You don ’t know much about each other. In fact, all you know at this point is the first names. No last names, no contact information, no companies. I strongly encourage you to keep it this way. The less you know the better.”

“Why?” Paul asked with a nearly unnoticeable challenge in his voice.

Clark smiled.

“Let’s just say your employers will appreciate your discretion. Again, in a few days you ’ll be thanking me for this warning.”

“Sounds familiar,” said Paul. “Hello, my name is Paul and I’m a manager.”

“Then another rule will also sound familiar , ” Clark responded to his comment. “What happens at the w orkshop stays at the w orkshop. Granted, you should feel free to discuss your experiences with your friends, but please abstain from mentioning any personal details. The non-disclosure agreement that each of you has signed covers this rule in greater detail, but you get the idea ; however , this limitation does not apply to the people who ’ve sent you here. Should they ever ask you for specifics , you are at liberty to disclose anything you like. In fact, we strongly encourage participants to do this. This is how we get about ninety percent of our new corporate clients. Last, but not least, stay open -minded, comfortable and just be yourselves.”

“Discreet satisfaction guaranteed, ” Paul added.

“Precisely!” Clark seemed to welcome the smiles that lightly touched some faces in the room. “I do guarantee satisfaction . At least, to some of you.”

Michael smiled. The promise sounded ambiguous at best.

“I have a question, ” softly announced the cherub, who was now equipped with the nameplate “Alan .”

“Of course.”

“Where do you get the other ten percent of your new clients?”

Clarks glanced at him with interest.

“Technically it would be inaccurate to call these ten percent ‘new .’ These companies have sent their people to the w orkshop in the past.”

“In other words, as some participants move to the very top in their companies they start sending the next generation here ?” clarified Alan.

“Yes,” Clark confirmed in delight. “That is a good way of putting it.”

“So you’re not getting any clients through your ads?”

“None.”

“How come?”

“Because we don ’t run ads. For many years our only form of advertisement has been word of mouth.”

“For many years . . .” the blonde, whose name according to the nameplate was Joan, looked puzzled. “How long have you been in this business?”

“For quite some time. Longer than it ’d be natural to assume. We teach timeless truths.”

“Ones that no one else dares to speak?” asked Paul.

Clark nodded.

“Precisely. And the time has come to talk about them. And about our taboo.”

Ross leaned towards Stella and , sounding like a conspirator , commented quietly , “Let ’s see what he ’s got to tell us.”

“Actually, this time I expect you to do the talking, ” replied Clark, demonstrating an impressive hearing ability. “I ’m only going to summarize. Remember the two questions you were supposed to answer before coming here? Well, now is the right time to discuss your answers. Please take one of the two copies you have in front of you, write down your answers, fold the paper and give it to Ed. Then I will read them aloud, and this will give us a nice starting point for our taboo discussion. Assuming your answers are honest.”

He stopped for a second, then added, “It ’s all right if you choose to answer anonymously. In fact i t would be even better that way.”

Listening to the rustle that at once filled the room, Michael opened his folder. Same questions, indeed. Why did I get . . . What do I want . . . And for some reason , two copies. Games. Childish games. Ok ay , let ’s play. There seems to be no viable alternative anyway.