From Barry himself:
I’m Barry Maher, a speaker/writer/consultant.
Growing up, I’d always wanted to be a writer. I thought that was the way I could make a real difference in people’s lives. But writing didn’t pay much so I’d gone into the business world to support myself while getting established. Unfortunately, though I kept writing and even added a little public speaking to it, the more successful I became in my “temporary” career the more it ate into my writing time, leaving me almost no time to pursue what I actually wanted to do. And the more financially successful I became, the harder it was to tear myself away from that steady income.
At age 50, I had a very successful career which was keeping me from the life I wanted. What’s worse, I was on the verge of deciding that I was just too old to pursue my dream.
Then fate stepped in, in the form of my boss, a corporate VP.
Even though my performance was extremely highly rated, when accounting told him that I’d been slightly overpaid for a year, he decided to the best course of action was to threaten me, throwing his weight around and issuing an ultimatum. Either I pay the money back or he’d let me go. I’d seen this kind of performance in that company before, but, since I was the fair-haired boy, this was the first time it had been directed at me. But instead of feeling threatened by the possibility of losing a very successful and lucrative career, I amazed both the VP and myself by simply responding, “I quit.”
The shocked expression on his face was worth more than they were paying me. He immediately cut the amount of money I supposedly owed in half. I didn’t budge. I was astonished by how relieved I felt.
Once out of there, I didn’t even wait for the next day to begin writing full time. I started as soon as I got home that afternoon, a book at least initially inspired by the management, communication and leadership mistakes I’d seen all around me during the last twenty years. The writing lead to more speaking, which I enjoyed even more than writing. Consulting jobs started coming in. Within a year, the same company brought me in as a consultant, at a rate several times the rate that they’d been supposedly overpaying me. And several years later, that very same VP got to sit in the audience and listen as I delivered the opening keynote at his new employer’s annual leadership conference, for a fee that was considerably in excess of what I’d been “overpaid” in a month while working for him.
Barry's client list includes organisations like ABC, the American Management Association, AT&T, AstraZeneca, Blue Cross, Budget Rent a Car, Canon, Cessna, Fuji, Hewlett-Packard, Lufthansa Airlines, Merck, the National Lottery of Ireland, the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Government, Verizon and Wells Fargo.
His books include Filling the Glass, which has been cited as “[One of] The Seven Essential Popular Business Books,” by Today’s Librarian.
www.barrymaher.com
[email protected]
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Aired on October 9th, 2024
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Elizabeth Diacos
Career Transition Coaching.
Website: www.larksong.com.au
