I have a review! OMG I need to meet the CEO! The client leadership is coming to visit!..What do I do? What do I say? What if I do not know the answer to a question? What if I do not recall the revenue figures? What if the itinerary goes haywire? What do to God help me…. I wish someone else gives the presentation…. OMG…. I am so stressed!!!!
Does this sound familiar… Hee hee hee… I am sure it does.
All of us during our career have witnessed this panic and maybe for a few of us it is pretty much a recurring occurrence.
So what to do, reviews will not stop…Clients would continue to visit…. Senior leadership interaction cannot be avoided…
So well if all will continue to happen so why has this author written an article and why am I wasting time reading it???… Questions going through your mind huh…. 😊
Valid questions and now for the answer…..one word “Fear”… Yes fear which makes us make a simple interaction a mammoth… Ok so the CEO wants to meet. Great isn’t it? You are one of the handpicked ones so there is something in you that isn’t there with anyone else.
This is your chance to show your skills, your capabilities, your intelligence, your charisma. This is your chance to get the much-needed limelight. This is your chance to give your name a face. This is your chance to get your thoughts shared, this is the time to get your share of the leadership mindshare… Hmmm, so why fear?
The root of fear psychosis can be traced to our school days. The fear of authority has been instilled in us and that is why most of us struggle to break free from it.
There is no harm in being intimidated by a personality, it is natural. Be willing to respect the authority, respect the intelligence, respect the caliber, respect the experience. The person that is intimidating you has reached this position, he/ she truly has something which you should respect and aspire to learn from. But he/she is a human being too. So why fear them? This is an opportunity, not a punishment.
Ok now let’s think logically and superimpose a corporate scenario…
So you are a manager working with ABC company and you have to make a presentation to a leader of a different team than yours. You need to convince this leader so he/she agrees to your pitch and approves it or opens the doors for further discussion.
Right, it is simple… Hmmm I see your eyes getting bigger and a frown of disapproval and even a sarcastic smirk on your face….. Hey hey hey…wait relax and hear me out Or well read me out 😊.
The thing is one cannot get out of the situation. It’s a done deal, you have been selected…What needs to be done, needs to be done. So why this article huh…for someone like me who goes through this regularly. Sharing with you all my mantra to prepare for it.
The key here is to work hard, there is no shortcut, prepare to the “T” but be ready for the worst. Yes, that’s correct think and delve on each scenario, and the worse than can happen. Knowing the consequences will make you better prepared to face them and even mitigate them.
Will you lose your job? The biggest insecurity of an employee right!!!! … well in a corporate set up unless you have committed fraud or have harassed someone or are a consistently low performer…. This scenario is not likely to arise and absolutely not as an outcome of meeting or a review as a catalyst…so far so Good. What next… You won’t get the order; your impression or image can get tarnished if you perform miserably, yes this is possible but if you are prepared this is unlikely to happen as you would have rehearsed the scenarios and would have made your come backs.
Nobody has answers to every question asked, data points can be written in a cheat sheet and can be kept…..Important ones can be put on the slides itself…. You can always say, ” I will come back” to something you have no idea about. You can take a step back think and then respond; you do not have to jump to answer every question. You are not perfect, no one is.
It is not expected that you know everything but it is expected that you are prepared. So get out of the throes of fear psychosis, the supervisor or a leader is a human being in the end who has also risen through the ranks and knows what you are going through.
Once you have clarity of what can be the worst outcome, you will be prepared for it and you will find fear psychosis dissipating.
Lastly, an aspect which is usually overlooked for a discussion is “You”, the person. The guy or girl who is going to be the representative for this discussion, review or a meeting.
What should I wear, what colour, what choice of clothing? Should it be comfortable or chic or fashionable? What to wear is also important and is something that plagues all of us irrespective of the gender here. How formal is formal??? A formal jacket with an open collar or a formal jacket with a tie. It is so hot isn’t jacket an overkill??? What about Indian formals with a Nehru jacket. Perhaps a saree but will I be an odd one out….
All questions have one simple answer…
- Check the precedence with your supervisor or colleagues in terms of what is the usual norm that they have observed. It’s a natural question, nothing to feel shy about. It is better to know then be caught unawares.
- Be comfortable. Your attire once adorned should be least of your worries.
- Be presentable, not flashy nor suggestive. You want the focus of the meeting to be your thoughts and voice, not your clothes. Your clothes are a necessity so treat them as that and let them be. Don’t let them overpower your personality. So enough reading for now. Try and assimilate and put into practical scenarios these few tricks that I have shared from my own experience.
Take a deep breath, put on your brilliant smile, and enter the conference room now…..all geared up to glitter and shine but prepared for the worst. Trust me you will see your fear psychosis slowly dissipating and your confidence peeking through the gap… Try it and do let me know… Ciao…
Pic courtesy: Freepik
