Leak and learn from No 10 mess
NUMBER 10 Downing Street has sprung more leaks than a colander. It would take Sherlock Holmes to work out who spilled the beans and why it matters, but we civilians have a few lessons to learn from the debacle. Top of the list is to ignore the adage about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Apart from the fact that hanging out with your foes is the opposite of fun, it’s a bad idea to give them a ringside seat to witness your sins and peccadillos. Just when you need it least, the viper in your bosom will spew deadly poison in the most damaging way. Keep your enemies at arm’s length.
“But,” I hear you ask, “what if your mortal destroyer is posing as your dearest pal?” The answer, I fear, is a recipe for loneliness: “Don’t let your best chums know about your flaws and failings either.”
If you don’t want the nasty stuff seeping out, remain discreet and remember walls have ears. Unfortunately, adhering to such advice makes for dreary conversation and “friendships” founded on lies. If, when your mate asks, “How are things with the other half?” you say: “A nightmare! We’re at each other’s throats. Thank heavens lockdown is lifting or I couldn’t answer for the consequences,” remember this is at your peril.
YOUR honesty affords your confidante potentially lethal ammunition.You never know which real or imagined slight might prompt them to spill the beans. Am I suggesting you be less than transparent with your besties? You bet I am.
A further life lesson courtesy of BoJo and Co: don’t involve your spouse-to-be in your day job. If said individual is already waistdeep in your business affairs, draw boundaries and make sure your domestic bliss does not depend on accommodating your intended’s wishes in your work decisions.
I am aware that this is easier said than done. If you fall in love with a colleague, disentangling them from office politics is almost impossible. If “office politics” is politics itself, hammering home the fact that you have been elected and they have not doesn’t make for marital harmony.
The final personal development opportunity: if you don’t fancy the previous incumbent’s furniture, paint it, flog it on eBay or cover it in a throw.Alternatively, pay for the refurbishment yourself.