Annual Conference

I'm back in New York after enjoying Thanksgiving with my parents in Asheville. And the first annual conference for our department kicked off on Monday with a formal Moroccan dinner on the set of our company's TV studio with our founder and former CEO, which featured courses prepared by her personal chef. To follow were three days of personal and professional discovery and a night of pizza, beer and trivia at Dempsey's Pub in the Lower East Side.

I found one of the most notable moments over the past three days to be when our brand new SVP said to an attentive audience in the executive conference room (and I paraphrase):

"As with any new job, you go into it with a certain degree of uncertainty. On my third day, [VP*] asked me what she could tell me that no one else had yet. So I said to her, 'How about the truth?'"

"Without hesitation, she replied, 'I have an amazing team and I love them. They will walk through walls, they'll do anything you ask. We'll hustle for you. Let us go.'"

"That night when I got home, I said to my wife, 'I made the right decision. My leader of sales didn't answer the question with a question. She gave me a definitive answer regarding the truth.'"

*Name removed to preserve anonymity; however, he was referring to the woman I assist directly.