This is a marketing story about personal branding that took place about 30 years ago, I had just started working for Lennox industries. At that time, Lennox Industries was a male oriented business. With men in all the senior roles, this company was trying to change their boys club image. It was also, surprisingly a personal, family run, $750 million business. It was a personal family business.

Three weeks into my job, we had a party for one of the men on our team. He'd been there for 20 years, and we were having cake and coffee to celebrate. There was an executive meeting and they all came down to personally congratulate Roger.

My boss thought this was a great time to introduce me to the president of the company, and his entire staff. As I walked over to meet them  I had a cup of coffee in my right hand.  It is a simple maneuver when you have a cup of coffee in your right hand, pass it to your left, and you extend your right hand. Somewhere between pass and extend I lost a cup of coffee.  It would have been okay except it was a full cup of coffee and it bounced.

I looked over at my new boss, who was wearing coffee from his knee to his ankle. Pretty sure my career was over, I was hoping the ground would open up and swallow me whole. It didn't. But at that moment, I learned the human brain does amazing things when fired by a little bit of adrenaline. Time slowed down around me and sped up in my head as I ran through all the possible things I could say or do. I had a chance to evaluate all of those options based on what I wanted my personal brand to be.