Oh, this one's easy, though it's a challenge to keep the explanation short.

A Japanese steel company wanted me to rebuild their operation. Given their history of turnover with US managers, it took eighteen months and I negotiated a five year deal with incentives. Four years later, we've gone from 70 million per year to 135 million per year and I'm making the same money as the Japanese president serving as figurehead of our company. I also crossed the CEO of our holding company, demonstrating to the Mitsubishi board why his expansion plans were economically unfeasible with a detailed market study.

Career-wise the latter was a huge mistake. I was trying to protect our local workforce. In retaliation, he forced our president into retirement and installed his protege from Japan. Protege institutes his own plan and alienates every customer we have. We lose more money in one year than we made in two years prior, go from top performer to the bottom ten. His response was to lay off 35% of our hourly employees and fire the entire management group. My deal has been up for several months. They keep me for a few more, pump me for everything they can get, and then make me the last one to be fired.

Only time I have ever been canned. Yet, if that doesn't happen I would never realize my, ridiculous current success. I run the sales/purchasing/logistics, go to work in jeans and steel toes everyday instead of a suit, don't travel 150 days a year anymore, and enjoy a much better income.

So, one year ago I attend a large meeting in Chicago and run into an old friend. He's been named to rebuild my old company; we were colleagues at the same level way back then. The Japanese president that tossed me out has been fired, the CEO, his mentor, has been forced to take early retirement, because they've run the company into the ground. Folks, this rarely happens in Japanese companies. If you're Japanese you get transferred. You don't get fired. Early retirement is a loss of face as well.

My friend, asked me if I would consider coming back and trying to do it again….

Uh, nope.