It’s a cool spring Wednesday morning in Minnesota when I get a meeting invite from my boss for the following day. He is the CTO of a booming mid-sized start up company, so typically I am the one setting up our meetings. I think back about the past couple of weeks. Did I miss a deadline? Did I piss someone off? No matter how much I like my boss, or how good I *think* I am at my job, I can’t help but feel a tiny bit like my name just got called over the P.A. system in an elementary school to head directly to the principal’s office.
Meeting time. I am ready to pitch, but before I get into the details I ask him. “Before I get into these items, do you have anything big for me today? Is there a project on fire somewhere I can help out with?” He shakes it off, “no, no, you do a good job at keeping us talking on as regular schedule as my schedule allows. The real impetus for this meeting is (wait for it…) : is that I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for growing a team in a way that does not add drama to our development process. You’ve always been open to feedback, taken your lumps with style and kept moving forward and trying new things. So thank you. The function your team brings to our organization is a valuable one to have.” Once I regain consciousness, I tell him how much I appreciate that and head into my updates trying to hold back a smile…
