It was just one of those things.  My friend Grace, from Actuate, was going to help me help Jeppe Boys exec team set up their internal communication strategy as a kind pro bono gift.  But she’s a really busy lady, so we scheduled the whole event around a spare spot in her diary.  And after poor Soz had spent an entire week moving everyone’s diaries to fit in with that spare spot, we found out the day before that Grace had managed to double-book the spot in a moment of unthinkingness (which happens to all of us, especially when we get to Grace and my age…). And so the session went ahead, minus Grace the Guru, but with a flamboyant fly-in rescue from Hanli, who has done this sort of thing with Grace before…(thanks Hun!).

Grace emailed an apology, voice-mailed an apology, and in the normal world, that would have been it.

But not for Grace.

I came into work on Monday morning to find a sweetly wrapped black box on my desk, and when I opened it, this beautiful mini-cake was inside, from Grace.

She reminded me about how important it is to fix things properly.  So many of us make little mistakes that can have big impact on others, apologise profusely, and move on with those busy lives we all lead. But Grace has the class to slow things down, and use the opportunity not just to mend the moment, but remind her friend how really precious she is to her - and build a bridge of trust and love that is just that much stronger than before.

Nice touch Grace!  The Avos loved the cake.  Thanks mate!