The CEO who sat on the floor during my first board meeting

Back in 2008 I was a junior VP at a midsize tech firm in Charlotte, and I had to present our quarterly numbers to the board. I was so nervous I spilled coffee on my notes right before walking in. The CEO, this older guy named Frank, saw me panicking in the hallway. He just sat down on the floor right there and said 'Come join me, we'll figure this out together.' He spent 10 minutes helping me reorder my thoughts and told me a story about his first big presentation where he threw up in a trash can. When we finally went in, he introduced me with this calm confidence that made everyone relax. I've never forgotten how he treated me like a person first and an executive second. Has anyone else had a leader do something small that just stuck with you for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler6141mo ago

I gotta admit, back in my twenties I was one of those guys who thought good leadership meant being tough and never showing weakness. I figured a CEO sitting on the floor with a junior VP would look soft or something. But hearing this story about Frank, I realize I was completely wrong. The image of him just dropping down to help you like that, it hits different now that I've seen how a little humility can build real trust. Ive had a few bosses since then who tried to act like they were above everyone, and honestly it just made people afraid to mess up. This Frank guy probably built a lot more loyalty from that one moment than most managers get in their whole career.

the_fiona1mo ago

Honestly that humility thing carries over into so many parts of life beyond just work. I've noticed the same pattern with neighbors or even family members, the ones who act like they're too good to get their hands dirty end up isolated while the people who just show up and help out get way more respect. Ngl it's almost like that one moment of sitting on the floor probably did more for Frank's reputation than any company memo or fancy speech ever could.