This week: a couple of true stories from my coaching. And a cliffhanger (sorry!)

What would you do if the CEO asked you to show them your work? You’d probably… show them your work, right?

Let's say you’re a designer in a product team, and the CEO wants to see what you’re working on. The meeting begins, and as you start talking, she interrupts: “Let me stop you there, no need to explain. Let me go through the screens and ask you questions.”

Her grasp of the work is exceptional. Unprompted, she explains your reasoning back to you, despite never having met you or seen the work. “I can see why you did that, fantastic work”. You’ve said almost nothing, but the meeting ends with perfect shared understanding: nothing to change, just a CEO that knows your name, and respects your work.

This is a true story I heard from someone in big tech. It’s also likely never going to happen to you. What’s more common? Well… let’s take a short trip presentation hell (also based on true story).

You’re a senior designer in a growing startup, and the CEO asks to see your work. You’re feeling unusually confident: you’ve spent weeks on problem-solving and testing, but you're still nervous about this presentation. In the meeting, you plan to do exactly what you’ve been asked: talking through the changes you’ve designed for the app.

Despite a strong start, things quickly head south. He starts interrupting you about pointless details. It’s clear he didn’t have good context beforehand, and doesn’t really understand what you’re saying. Worst of all, he goes waaaaay off-topic: he’s not shouting at you… but it’s certainly not kind. While this is happening, all you can think is “I understand this way better than he does”. You’re not wrong, but nothing you’re saying seems to penetrate his skull.

You leave deflated, pondering your career choices, and realising your well-crafted work won't see the light of day. You start to think about the slide content, and the nerves that made your voice wobble. “If only I could sound more… confident?”

You realise you’re not even confident saying the word confident. You’re right. Confidence is a bonus; a ‘nice-to-have’, a symptom, but not the real problem.

In both cases, the designers in question weren't really in control of the company culture, or the emotional intelligence of a leader. But that doesn't mean they couldn't do things differently next time.

Even the heaven scenario, while it's as rare as hen's teeth, inspires a good test of any presentation:

Next week, I'll talk about the missing ingredient.

The next Get Your Story Straight workshop: London, 13th November.