Out of the blue, the president of my company invited me to a long lunch last week. My first thought: “Uh oh, she hired me, and now she wants to let me down easy.” Why would an incredibly busy woman that spends more time at corporate in NYC than in the office want to go to lunch with a young, incredibly good looking new employee?
As one of the newest members of the team, the idea of losing my job isn’t far fetched, and, I know for a fact there are going to be layoffs in Q1 ’09. Bad news or good, my expectation was a two hour conversation about every business related current event and my personal analysis of the current economic climate.
My mind shifted into job interview prep mode. I tried to memorize every outdated business magazine laying around my apartment and, embarrassingly, practiced talking in my car (hey! I’m not used to this stuff).
Know what happened when the fateful Outlook event reminder – “lunch” – popped up on my computer screen?
Nothing. Well…everything, but not what I thought was going to happen.
It wasn’t at all what I expected. She complained about corporate for the entire trip to the restaurant, then gave me a little history of the company and the lineage of the C-level execs. Then, we talked about everyday stuff.
No economy. No company strategy. No business but show business (she likes movies).
Strange as it may seem, I decided to pretend I was on a date. It worked!..even received a personal email the next day in my Gmail inbox instead of company email. The lunch was a relatively comfortable, enjoyable lunch for both parties.
The moral: They may not look at you, or say “hello” as you return from the water cooler, but your higher ups are people that were once in your position. Be yourself (almost).
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