2 Lessons From the Worst Business Meeting Ever

I had the opportunity to spend some time with a CEO at a rather large organization recently and the experience had a profound effect on my interpretation of the company and their culture.

I arrived at the office and I am greeted by his admin after I am forced to get her attention. I received a lukewarm welcome as I am escorted to the room where the meeting will take place. At this point, I am in a good place and eager to get the meeting started and genuinely excited about the opportunity. So, imagine my surprise when the CEO walks in shortly after me, sits down, does not make eye contact (barely says hello) and waits for the meeting to begin. Ouch!

He begins to ask me questions about myself, background, what I do, why etc. In the interim, he is playing with his iPhone while doing his best to avoid eye contact. He seems completely uninterested in what I have to say and occasionally picks his head up to give me a fake smile. The issue here was something deeper. His body language screams “I am too cool for school.” I am doing my best to hang in there, but I am starting to get annoyed at the CEO’s behavior which I think is both disrespectful and unprofessional. I come close to calling a time-out and ending this charade of a meeting.

Instead, I sit there and continue to answer questions while pretending to be interested in their organization. It starts to feel like an awful match.com date and I am too polite to say so. Beyond being annoyed, it occurred to me just how important good manners are in terms of articulating your company brand to outsiders. My image of this company was a negative 10 at this point. As I leave the meeting room, I notice their core values on the wall and one happens to be “respect”. Not so much.

Would I ever refer anyone to this company? No!

If an organization cannot treat potential partners with respect one has to wonder how they treat their customers and especially their employees.

Lesson learned:

1. The ability to treat a person with respect emanates from the value system of an organization.
2. Meeting etiquette is a reflection of a company’s culture; it is the sum of its parts.

The Devin C. Hughes Company inspires leaders, teams and organizations to kick-start growth and positive performance. A keynote speaker and author, Devin draws on his decades of experiences working with top teams, individuals and organizations to improve performance, engagement and outcomes. His new book, Note to Self, is now available. Sign up here to receive our monthly newsletter.

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1. A version of this was published previously in our newsletter.