The Power to Ignore Conventions

Years ago, when I was just starting out in finance, I attended a meeting for a proposed acquisition of a five-star hotel, and the redevelopment of the land around it.  I came in a suit.  Everybody came in expensive suits.  The food was expensive.  The place was exclusive.

We ate, we talked, and we waited for the owner to come.  Prior to this, I had never met him.  When he arrived, he was dressed like he was going to wash dishes at a coffee shop.  He had a simple shirt, black pants and used a plain cane.  That man was the multibillionaire who owned the hotel, and the holding company.  I learned a valuable lesson that day.

The moral of the story: Power is the ability to ignore conventions.  When you have it, there is no need to show it.