Did I Really Say That?

Grace under pressure is something we all wish we had.  Sometimes we are able to use our sense of humor to acknowledge the difficulty of the awkward moment.  Sometimes our sense of humor bombs and we forced to take a deep breath and deal with the situation immediately and under intense stress.  It can be difficult to stay focused and not be rattled but you can do it!   

Let’s talk about an example of grace under fire.  One of my friends was invited to a job interview as an Administrative Assistant which included lunch at a very nice restaurant and a meeting at the main office immediately afterwards (where she hoped to get a fabulous job offer).  It so happens that the tables were extremely small and with the company CEO, CFO, HR guys it was very crowded.   

There was great emphasis being placed on how important being open to doing whatever needed to be done whether it was in the job description or not.  How much they all wanted someone to anticipate getting things done without being told.  My friend was the mother of six children (that’s another story for another time) and was an expert at all things nurturing and needing attention.   

Then the lunch was served – without giving it a single thought and while giving a description of an event that required her to respond above and beyond the call of duty she reached over to the plate next to her and began cutting up the spaghetti as if it was for her youngest child.  The plate that belonged to the CEO of the company she so badly wanted to work for.  As she finished the story, she realized what she had done.  

She looked around at the three astonished men and said simply, “I have no problem doing whatever it takes to make things easier for all of you.  As long as it is not immoral or illegal I think I can do a great job.”  They looked at each other, smiled hugely and the other two passed her their plates for her to cut up their spaghetti too.  Then offered her the job at two times the normal salary she was hoping for and asking could she start that afternoon! 

Always expect that something will go wrong, try to picture it happening and think about what you can say to acknowledge the unusual situation then simply keep going.  Perhaps on the way to that presentation your fabulous shoe heel breaks off and there is no time to stop and buy a new pair.  When you get to that meeting explain the situation in a very short, clear story and then forget it.  Give everyone a big smile and start your spiel – never acknowledge that the situation is strange in any way.  At the end of your meeting look them directly in the eyes, murmur their names (which you remembered), shake hands firmly and walk do not run out the nearest door limping as gracefully and as quickly as possible with your head held high!  You are a survivor! 
 
 

Posted:Thursday, February 28, 2008