“The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people.”

– Lucille S. Harper, African American author and poet

“I thought he was remarkable!” announced one of my colleagues.

“I thought he was a pompous jerk,” declared another.

I laughed. We had just been to see the Guru, a highly acclaimed American media prophet. He was teaching us the art of creating effective advertising campaigns. An audience of nearly 1,000 media people filled a vast city conference centre. Some of what the Guru shared with us was quite fascinating and some verged on astounding. For me, much of it was dulled by the enormity of his ego. At one point, he actually ripped (or appeared to rip) a $100 bill into tiny pieces and, with grea...

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