Thought for the day....
A friend of mine posted on Facebook that they had a meeting with their company's President today and the anticipation of it made them incredibly nervous. Which brings to mind all the times I've heard people saying how nervous they were even to simply be in the presence of company big wigs. Not just at times something is expected of them, but even if they casually pass them in the hall.
I get being a little nervous at disappointing these people in a meeting presentation or on a project. After all if you mess up, they do have the potential to submarine your career or fire you. However the same is true of your immediate boss as well.
What I don't get is being nervous at casual run ins with these people, or being asked to sit in on a meeting but with no responsibility to the content from yourself. After all... they are just people like you and I.
I guess the reason this maybe doesn't bother me like it does some is that I grew up with a father who was in a pretty decent position at his company. I still remember when I was in Junior High school my mother telling me my Dad had just found out he was being promoted to Vice President. The youngest person in his company's history to receive that title too. And I was in High school when he was promoted to National Director of Water Programs. At present I have no idea what his current title is but he is head of 1/3 of the company, and it's a very big sized company for his field. I'm pretty proud of him.
When my brother was in high school and college he got a summer job working at my dad's company. He was just a part time worker who helped to file documents. So he was around a lot of people who were lower level and newer to their career. By this point my dad was technically located in their corporate headquarters which is in another state, but he commuted home every weekend. One day my brother came home laughing and telling stories of how everyone had been so high strung at work that day because one of the head guys was coming to town. Everyone was on pins and needles and making sure the offices were in order and people were on their best behavior. The head guy everyone was referring to was my father.
To us kids this was the strangest thing to imagine. People were nervous because of dad? Sure my dad had his serious side. Sure he is someone we care for and don't want to disappoint... but never someone we could see causing any panic or worry over. Intimidating? This man who used to go to Costco in gym shorts, knee high socks, sandals, and old t-shirts with holes in them. (I'm pretty sure he intentionally dressed like this to torture us by the association in having to walk around with him.) Who occasionally used pretty patterned dish towels to cover his bald head when laying in the sun to take a nap. Who constantly forgets the words to songs but insists on singing as loud as he can anyway what ever he thinks the words might be... no matter how ridiculous it is. The man who didn't notice for several days when my mother changed up the decorations in the living room. The list of silly and embarrassing details goes on.
My point being, next time you see that executive in the hallway, just remember this: Chances are somewhere out there is a child who thinks they are a total softy and a massive dork.
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