Your big moment

Once in a long while, you have a chance to meet the big boss, the one you saw on stage and never met in social events other than company parties. You have 45 minutes to an hour. Your foremost goal is to impress him positively. The secondary goal is not to screw up. What to do?

No managers should be concerned with what would you possibly be talking to the big boss about. But your own manager may feel embarrassed that he or she does not know everything. You should inform your boss that such event has been scheduled and gauge his/her reaction. In general, there should be no restriction on what you can or cannot say. There is no need to seek approval from anyone.

It is unlikely that your conversation with the big boss will stay between just two of you. The big boss always works through other people. If you expect anything to change because of your conversation with him. Someone else will know about the conversation.

Be prepared. Rehearse your topics and approaches. Bring a note. Bring a pen.

I don’t understand those who think everything will go well without preparing for it. No athletes win without practicing. No performers go on stage without rehearsing. No writers publish without editing. Why would you expect good outcome without preparation?

  • Go straight to the point. Don’t employ the “scientific process” (state your hypothesis, present your data, draw your conclusion). Do the opposite:
    • Say the key point (the ask, the opinion, the conclusion, whatever) directly and in the beginning.
    • Wait 1 second (maybe two), gauge the reaction, start stating the key reasons or your persuasive arguments. State the conclusion directly. Be prepared on data, but don’t bring them out unless requested. This shows that you are prepared and also respectful for his time and intelligence.
    • Do not dramatize or over-emphasize. This is not a performance, but a persuasive argument. Hard selling arouses suspicion.
  • In general, the most impressive topic is a way to bring in incremental revenue with little or no investment. (I have this code prototyped already. I think it will be $200m revenue. All we need to do is spin another box.) The second is a process change to improve efficiency dramatically. (This step in our standard process is a waste of time 95% of the time. We can simply do thing this way instead…)
    Then you can ask for information that you are curious about and only he has the insight. (What’s your thought on going after the enterprise market?)
  • Or you can seek career or personal coaching. (I am thinking of starting a company to do this…)
  • If you have a negative opinion on anything or anyone, always have an alternative or a solution that is plausible. (Fire him. Put myself in charge. This is what I would do differently.)
  • Avoid asking for personal favors (can I get more raise this year?), instead ask for programmatic change that may benefit you more (we should have a child-care subsidy for families like myself.)

Rehearse out loud. If you merely have thought of what you are going to say, the words wouldn’t come out right. When you are done with all your point, stand up, thank him, shake hands, and leave. Don’t try to milk every minutes that are “yours.”

Good luck.

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