Respect & character
The meeting before the meeting
Many years ago, several partners and I were seeking venture funding for our firm. We needed the money badly, and we had spent plenty of time preparing. We knew our business, our numbers, and our pitch.
That didn’t make the waiting room any less tense.
A woman behind the reception desk told us the partner was running about ten minutes late. With a little extra time, we relaxed and started joking around.
A few minutes later, the partner came out, shook our hands, and led us toward the conference room. Then he turned to the woman behind the desk.
“Why don’t you join us too?”
Gulp.
She wasn’t the receptionist. She was an associate who would help analyze our business plan and influence the investment decision.
I remember us looking at each other, mentally replaying the waiting-room conversation. Apparently, the meeting had started before we knew we were in it.
Fortunately, we hadn’t said anything foolish or disrespectful. We believed in our company and what we were presenting. Our conversation reflected that.
We ultimately didn’t receive the funding, but we made it through several rounds of due diligence. So we managed to avoid eliminating ourselves in the waiting room. Always a useful first step.
The experience stayed with me.
We had assigned someone a role based on where she was sitting. Then we had relaxed because we assumed the people evaluating us weren’t there yet. Both assumptions were wrong.
You don’t always know who is part of a decision, whose judgment carries weight, or who someone will become later in their career. But you shouldn’t need that information to treat them well.
Respect shouldn’t depend on how important you think someone is.
I also learned that preparation includes more than knowing the pitch. If the conversation outside the conference room contradicts what you say inside it, you have a bigger problem than presentation skills.
I’m all for relaxing and having a sense of humor. But I want to be the same person in the waiting room that I am in the meeting.
It saves a lot of mental replay afterward.