Sometimes we have to be shocked into seeing something that was there all along.
For a senior executive I’ll call Karen, one of those defining moments came most unexpectedly when her boss tried to give her a one-line performance review for the third year in a row.
Before Karen was promoted to vice president, her annual evaluations had included detailed comments that guided her professional growth. This year, she was determined to elicit specific feedback, especially since she had just endured a stressful year leading a major project that defined the company’s future.
But when she pressed for more specifics, the president simply said, “I trust you to continue doing what you do so well, and I expect you’ll ask for my help if you need it.”
