Survive tough CEO meetings
3 ways to stay calm and credible when a high-stakes meeting goes wrong
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I once sat in a meeting where Jeff Bezos eviscerated a veteran technical VP next to me.
The VP submitted to the verbal beating, which I think was a mistake.
Here is what he did and how I would have handled it instead.
At the time, I was a newly promoted Director. Luckily, in this meeting, I was not in the direct line of fire as Jeff expressed his frustration over the slow rate of feature development for the Kindle e-readers.
My job back then was to put a series of basic word games onto the simple black and white reading device, while the VP next to me was responsible for the underlying operating system on the Kindle.
Jeff was very unhappy that the operating system could not do more, and he was upset by the lengthy schedule the VP said was required to improve it.
The cycle of the conversation that followed was one we have all seen.
Jeff started by asking questions about why the Kindle could not do more and when it would improve.
The VP answered with his plans, which Jeff felt were too slow.
As Jeff’s frustration increased, his questions became more pointed and critical.
In return, the VP's answers became shorter and more apologetic.
The exchange ended with the VP sitting quietly while Jeff complained about the slow progress.
After the meeting, I heard the VP explain how the meeting went to his SVP::
“It went poorly.
You know how he [Jeff] is impossible to deal with when he gets like this.”
More than 15 years later, I still feel bad for the VP.
Perhaps he had no other choice.
Maybe sitting silently while the founder and CEO raged was the safest option.
However, I’d like to think there was a better way: