Meet Eric and Susan, business leaders and students of Personal Executive Presence.
ERIC'S STORY: CONFRONTATION
“Hi Henry, you wanted to see me?” Eric poked his head through his boss’s half-open door.
“Ah yes, come in Eric”, the grizzled, grandfatherly man in the office said as he gestured to his visitor to sit down in the plush leather office chair on the opposite side of his desk.
“How are you doing? Everything alright with the family?”
“Thanks Henry, I’m great and so is the missus. And my orders are up twenty percent in Q3 and I’m hiring four new reps this month alone. Sales is on fire!”
“That’s great, really great …” Henry’s voice seemed to trail off as he looked pensively at Eric.
“I won’t beat around the bush, Eric. We do love your numbers and work ethic, but there have been some … complaints.”
Eric stiffened.
“Complaints?” he echoed, trying to look unconcerned. “I’ve never touched –“
“Relax, it’s nothing like that.” Henry interrupted, waving his hand reassuringly. “But yesterday an employee in your division contacted HR to discuss their satisfaction, or rather lack thereof, with their work situation. Two more came to me privately today to voice their discontent, but they agreed to forego further actions until I had a chance to talk with you.”
Eric felt the blood drain from his face. His heart began to race, drumming each warning beat loudly into his ears.
“I don’t understand! You just admitted my numbers are great, and I had HR throw an employee appreciation event just last month. Everyone is getting great pay – they have no right to complain!” He suddenly realized he was shouting and leaning dangerously far forward in his rolling chair.
“Eric, take a breath.” Henry slowly rose from behind his desk and walked over to the fancy Italian Espresso maker beside the minibar. “Espresso?”
Eric faintly registered that Henry’s voice had taken on a deeper, warmer timbre. The way his boss moved, slowly, deliberately, with precision, somehow arrested him. He slowly sank back in his chair, his mind racing like a drunken monkey stung by hornets, looking for answers, arguments, some kind of damage control.
“You know, Eric, I’ve always liked you. You remind me of myself when I was young.” Henry paused and looked pensively at Eric. Those kind eyes, the brown and folded skin, the wrinkled hand that slowly centered the tiny espresso cup on its saucer. Of course, Henry needed no reminder that he took his coffee black, Eric absently noted. Henry was someone who remembered such things.
“Talented, hardworking, ambitious, brilliant …”
Eric felt his mind slow down as Henry handed him his cup. He took a sip. The familiar bitter taste calmed him down a bit more.
“… determined and arrogant”.
Henry watched silently as Eric choked on his espresso. As his protégé struggled to regain his composure through multiple coughing fits, Henry walked over and produced a small hand towel.
“That was uncalled for!” Eric barked, wiping deep-brown drops from his hands and face. “You did that on purpose!”
Henry raised both hands in a gesture of apology as he walked back to his desk. “You’re right. That wasn’t very nice of me.” He sat down and folded his hands in front of him.
“But I need you to remember this conversation.” He paused, waiting for Eric to settle back in his chair.
“You know, I really stuck my neck out for your promotion to Senior VP. And I know you could be great. But I need you to make some changes, and I need you to make them fast. These complaints are not unfounded.”
“What do you mean?” Eric growled. “Doesn’t every leader have a few disgruntled underlings?”
“That kind of language is exactly part of the problem”, Henry retorted. “I know you think your language is casual and fun, but ‘underlings’ is a term that belongs in novels about evil dictators and mad kings.”
Ready to launch into a good reply, Eric found Henry leaving him no opening.
“Look Eric, I wasn’t joking when I said you remind me of myself when I was young. I was quite rough around the edges myself, and it landed me in plenty of hot water early on. But I was lucky to get some good mentoring from Jacqueline at the time.”
Jacqueline. Eric knew that name. He had never met her in person, but her reputation at the company was legendary. She had been the wife of the then-CEO, and an uncanny blend of working-class roots and high-society sophistication. In a time where formal women leadership was rare, Jacqueline had been the de facto confidante of many of the company’s leadership at the time, always managing to walk the fine line between familiarity and professionalism. She had been the company’s leadership consultant before that term existed, and her first name was spoken almost reverently by the few remaining senior executives who had personally known her.
“Look, I’ve watched you operate over the past few months, and I was hoping you would grow into your new role given some time. I now see that was naïve of me, and I apologize. I should have offered you more help with this big transition.”
Hearing his boss’s apology came as a bit of a shock to Eric’s system. He had heard it before, and yet he never got used to it. He himself rarely apologized, and then only to his wife, in private. But he felt himself relax and regain some calm.
“Look, I know that I can be a bit direct sometimes, but I mean well. And my performance …”
“Let me stop you right there. I don’t think you fully understand what performance is expected of you. As a VP, you had a small team. Each of them knew you, and knew your heart is in the right place, like I do. They respected your brilliant mind and work ethic and learned to put up with your stuff. But now you manage all of Sales, and one hundred and twenty people can’t all be expected to see your goodness under that rough exterior. Do you think I don’t know that you’re hiring four new reps because four just quit? In addition, your numbers are no longer enough. I need you to step it up! Become a leader who inspires, who motivates, who communicates his vision, who harmonizes his teams. Someone who instills confidence that the job will get done, who earns the respect of colleagues regardless of their position on the org chart. Be a leader who is known for relentlessly serving the people put in his trust!"
Eric opened his mouth to speak, took a deep breath, and slowly closed it again.
“I don’t know how to do all that”, he finally sighed.
“That’s the first sign of progress”, Henry said as he rose.
“What is?”
“Knowing that you don’t know. It means your mind is open and no longer filled with 'knowledge'". Henry gestured air quotes around his last word, something he was fond of doing. It seemed like many things in Henry’s world were not deemed worthy of taking overly seriously.
“What do you want me to do? Are you going to mentor me like Jacqueline did for you?” Eric didn’t like the slight begging sound in his voice, but he knew better than to pretend this conversation could end without an action plan.
“I don’t think that’s going to work. I know how to be a leader, but I’m not great at teaching it. In fact, most great leaders I know aren’t, even if they could find the time. And you know what my calendar looks like.” Henry glanced at his screen. “In fact, I have the head of R&D coming in here in two minutes. But don’t worry.”
Eric looked at his boss with expectation. He should have known Henry would not have treated him to all this without already lining up a solution.
“I’ve arranged for you to meet with my friend Bill. He’s a former executive who retired early after his biotech company got acquired. He’s a consultant now and specializes in Personal Executive Presence. He’s just what you need.”
“I’m being punished with a tutor?” Eric yelped.
“I’m investing company cash in your development so you can become more than you ever knew you could be. I want you to shine, to become positively unforgettable, and to make me proud for recognizing the star executive buried inside your crusty shell.”
“I … I don’t know what to say. Thank you for believing in me.”
“You’re welcome kiddo”, Henry boomed, all of a sudden smiling broadly. “Now get out.”
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