“Comeback is not a matter of luck, it is taking a chosen path,” so, at any rate, counsels an important book written by two academics, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Andrew Ward. The title then sends us on our way: Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters.

The chosen path to recovery after a major career setback according to Firing Back varies from case to case, but corporate experts and psychologists agree that in all cases certain way stations must be passed on the road to recovery. The fi rst station is where failure is acknowledged and the reasons for it objectively pondered. It is here where one slips into the starting blocks for renewed trial of professional stamina.

But, just what is failure? Well, it can be a mistake that costs you an almost assured promotion. Or, it can cost your job. Being fi red is, of course, Failure, capitalised. It can be a searing experience, especially for someone who has reached a position of relative importance. In such a case, it infl icts humiliation. High-fl ying research has found that this is quite a common experience—but, then, so is being fi red. Even Abraham Lincoln got to know the feeling, and Winston Churchill, several times.

Moreover, attainment of great success can hold the seed of spectacular failure. Reaching the top needn’t be the end of the battle. In fact, in many cases it is where it starts. According to Forbes.com, 1,450 chief executives left their jobs in 2006, a record number, along with more than 21,000 C-level executives. It may have come as consolation that some of them were vouchsafed the honour of fi ring themselves.