A Corporate Nap

Every Wednesday morning, my illustrious, long-winded EHS manager hosted a mandatory team meeting. In reality, it was more of a weekly hostage situation. I dreaded those mornings. Out of an allotted sixty minutes, he routinely spent exactly fifty-six of them giving a monologue about EHS plans and happenings that were either entirely irrelevant or things the team already knew. It was his way of forcing his so-called "intelligence" upon us. I much rather have a fork inserted into my eye.

One fateful Wednesday, he decided to invite our precious EHS VP to sit in on the meeting.

It was the ultimate peacocking. He wanted to strut his dominance in front of upper management, proving what a brilliant, commanding leader he was to his captive audience. And I mean a truly captive audience. As usual, he puffed up his chest and launched into his usual drone confidence that he believed dazzled everyone in the room.

Exactly thirty-six minutes into his grand performance, the VP simply closed her eyes. She didn't just rest them; she checked out entirely. I honestly think she was having a dream. The entire time, our manager was so deeply enamored with the sound of his own voice that he didn’t even notice her slumber for another ten excruciating minutes.

When he finally realized what was going on, the look on his face was absolute poetry. It was a rapid-fire sequence of pure tragedy: frustration, profound betrayal, and utter shock. I couldn't contain my laughter, but I tried to keep it silent.

She eventually woke her up. But the true crowning moment of the morning was her reaction. She blinked her eyes open, looked at him, and offered absolutely zero apologies. There was no embarrassment or an excuse about being tired. She just sat there, unapologetically letting the silence confirm what we all already knew.

In that fleeting instance, she earned my absolute, sole moment of respect.

The Lesson Learned

A captive audience does not equal an engaged audience.

When leaders use meetings as a personal stage to massage their own egos rather than to collaborate or share vital information, they lose the respect of their team—and eventually, their superiors. True intelligence and leadership are demonstrated through brevity, relevance, and valuing other people's time.