Recently, a client was telling me a story about a staff member who had left his company. He said, “Yeah, now I have a new client.”

When this staff member, a recent college graduate, started with my client’s company five years ago, his wardrobe was seriously lacking (editorial comment: At this point, I had no idea where this was going). My client said the new staff member was very smart and hard-working, but his sloppy appearance detracted from his overall effectiveness. So, one day, my client gave the staff member an envelope and said, “Why don’t you take the afternoon off and go shopping?” Inside the envelope was a list of suggested business clothing and enough cash to purchase the items. Wow, what a great story! But that was only the beginning.

My client told me that, more than 20 years ago, his mentor had given him an envelope with a business apparel shopping list and the necessary cash. My client went on to say he still has lunch with his now-retired mentor, and shared that the long-ago action had such a positive impact on him, he’s paid it forward with a number of junior associates over the course of his career.

The story gets even better. He said, “I now have five clients who were former colleagues, and at some point I helped them all with their wardrobes.”

Wow — what a great story about mentoring, re-recruiting, and new business development all in one.