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My Best Mistake: Drawing a Blank With a Powerful Executive
Back when I lived in Seattle, I went for dinner and drinks at Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue – a popular local restaurant, and a regular spot for Microsoft employees. When it was time to head home, I stepped into the elevator to find myself sharing the ride down with a higher level executive. I said hello, he said hello back, but we had a quiet ride down the elevator. When we stepped out, we both picked up our cars from the valet, and went on our way.
I always
regretted not having something more to say in that moment. There I was with a
very important executive of my company and arguably one of the most influential
business minds of our time, but at that point in my career I was too intimidated
to say anything more than a simple “hello." The meeting was in fact very
fortuitous as I had been assigned a very strategic project which was a critical
part of the vision laid out by this executive. I could have brought up the
project and shared some additional ideas around it – I could have literally made
an elevator pitch. But instead, I stayed silent, too intimidated to strike up a
conversation.Maybe it wasn’t my biggest “mistake”, but it certainly was a big missed opportunity and a scenario I think about often. In the years to come I’d get to know this executive a bit better and work with him more closely, and learned the lesson that job titles are just that. But I consider myself lucky for having the opportunity to make up for being tongue tied.
For those of us more reserved (introverts), it may not come naturally to chat up someone you see as influential when you happen to run into them – whether it be in an elevator, at the coffee pot or at an industry conference. After that elevator ride, I promised myself to make more of an effort to connect with people with whom I don’t normally interact. In many cases these serendipitous conversations add a whole new dimension to ones thinking. This pivotal moment for me has helped me tremendously since then in my career as I consciously reach out to those in my own organizations that normally don’t get an opportunity to make an “elevator pitch” to me or are otherwise more reticent and quiet as I was. For those who find themselves in similar situation as I did, my advice is to always take the opportunity to connect with others but the key is to be genuine in doing so. Put some forethought into what you’d want to talk with someone about if you had the chance – this will make for better conversation. Taking the time to think this through also makes you more comfortable and confident when the situation arises and dissipates any possible feelings of intimidation.
This experience taught me that in business, you have to make the most of the moments you have and to not let a level of intimidation get in the way of making a good, and lasting, impression.
Photo via elevatorpitched.com
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