Everyone has a secret CV, full of gaffes and misjudgments they would prefer no one — especially a prospective employer — to know about. Perhaps it was forgetting to process an order, a heated exchange with a colleague, an embarrassment at the Christmas party.

For the high profile executive, it can be impossible to cover their tracks. It is a scenario Gerald Ratner has had to wrestle with.

After transforming the family jewellery business into a flourishing high street favourite, it went horribly wrong when, during a speech to the Institute of Directors at the Albert Hall in London in 1991 he referred to one of his own shop's sherry decanters as "crap".

Suddenly £500 million (Dh2.9 billion) was wiped from the valuation of the company and "to Ratner" became a verb.

After this highly public blunder, Ratner said he desperately wanted to stay with the company: and he thought the problem would go away. "But here we are 19 years later still talking about it," he said.

Publicity

His first action was to try to handle the publicity, which proved to be a bad move: "The PR company made me an enemy of the press," he says. Then, the newly appointed chairman fired him. "I became unemployable," he says.

At this point, says Ratner, his sparkling earlier record with the company appeared to count for nothing: "One minute I was Retailer Of The Year and the next minute I was a bum."

Ratner eventually set up a health club which he later sold for £3.9 million and he now runs Geraldonline, his own successful online jewellery business. He has also made a new name for himself as an after-dinner speaker.

Dr Roger Barker is head of corporate governance at the Institute of Directors, Europe's largest membership organisation for business leaders. He believes it is more difficult to break into top management, even for those with an impeccable record, than it is for those already in top management to be kept out even after blotting their copybooks.

The key to making a recovery, says Dr Barker, is explaining yourself. Unless the mistake is horrendous or related to integrity issues.

This is what hit Mark Hurd, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, in Aug-ust.

Good record

Allegations of sexual harassment and mishandling of expenses meant he had to leave the company, in spite of a record that included transforming the company's fortunes and doubling its share price.

What is an executive in the spotlight to do?

Dr Barker says the best bet is to turn to overseas opportunities, citing UBS's Mathis Cabiallavetta as a role model. "Mr Cabiallavetta is a really great success story of how to re-emerge as a top executive," says Dr Barker.

Cabiallavetta was board chairman at Union Bank of Switzerland (later to become UBS AG). In 1998 he resigned after the bank suffered a $700 million loss, following the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, a hedge fund.

He crossed the Atlantic and become vice chairman of an American company, where his story was much less emotive and he was still highly regarded.

James Callander of Fresh Minds recruitment consultancy says, "The acid test is how you deal with those mistakes and what judgment you display. Arguably, most senior people get to these positions after 20-30 years of work experience and therefore are likely to have an excellent bank of networks and transferable skills for other board level or advisory positions."

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