John Cooper had spent the last five years working for Standard Holdings, an early stage business development and private equity arm of the Standard Group of Companies (Standard). Cooper had benefitted greatly from the rich mentorship that Standard’s founder, Alan Kirkpatrick, provided. Cooper grew the confidence to fully exploit his potential and subsequently decided to leave Standard to incorporate his own consulting company. Before announcing his decision to Kirkpatrick to leave standard, Cooper was worried about the reaction he would receive. While saddened by the loss to Standard of Cooper’s skills and talents, Kirkpatrick remained very supportive of the decision to leave and agreed to become Cooper’s first client. Throughout the growth period of his new company, Cooper constantly reflected on the impact that Kirkpatrick’s’ influence had on his own decision-making. He ultimately realized the significant positive value that Kirkpatrick’s mentorship had bestowed upon him when he returned to school for a master in business administration (MBA) and classmates would approach him for advice and compliment him on his professionalism and insights.
