I recall many moons ago sitting in a restaurant in Waterloo, London, having lunch with my bid team colleagues.

At the head of the table sat our boss, Beth Bennett, Head of National Proposals at Ernst & Young. A tall, gaunt American with a huge heart, Beth was ie throes of transforming the firm’s bids, tenders and proposals.

But the atmosphere was subdued. We’d recently finished a marathon of a re-proposal for a huge contract to audit a pharmaceutical company. Nine long months, several US trips, numerous client conference calls and lots of midnight candles later, we were exhausted, and relieved it was all over. But we didn’t know if we’d retained the contract or not, and the call from the client was imminent.

In the middle of the meal Beth took a call from Washington on her mobile. Conversations stopped; knives and forks were rested on plates. After the usual pleasantries, the colour drained from Beth’s face and tears started to stream down her cheeks. She put the phone down and looked at us all. Then she clenched her fist and punched the air, uttering her stock phrase, ‘Man, oh man!’.

We’d retained the contract.

The client said it was the best business document he’d ever seen, they would use it as an instruction manual to run the contract, and it had raised the bar for future tender responses from suppliers.

It felt like a massive victory, but all we’d done was fight to keep a contract. Beth’s tears were not just tears of relief, but also of elation and pride in her team.

At that point, we’d all have willingly followed Beth into battle.