I know the exact moment we sealed our destiny.
And the shame of it was that I had failed to learn the lesson from the Gladys affair. That should have taught me to embrace the opportunities of the future rather than shrinking into the soft pillow of the past.
The executives at Agere looked at the challenge before them and failed to see the opportunity. All they saw was what had been taken away. They contracted rather than expanded.
I did exactly the same thing.
The critical moment for our student housing business came when we decided to stay the course and play the hand we already held rather than expand toward possibilities. We had started on the journey of replacing on of our old apartment houses with a brand new, state of the art building. We had the idea, zoning, outline of a design, and the architect on standby.
And then we backed down. We got cold feet and said no.
Our reasons were sound. You might recognize them from your past as well.
I had little experience.
It would be hard.
What if it doesn’t work?
It was risky.
Therefore, we failed to see where the future was moving — what students wanted, what we should provide, and how we could give it to them.
Therefore, I played small. I stuck with what I had and what I knew. I hadn’t learned my lesson.
I had only piled up more regrets.
