Success! Sunshine & Clouds

Wisdom is all around us: from the MBT Blog
Published by Mary Balistreri, MBT More Business Today LLC

Remember your first big business success? What did you do? How did you feel? Elated? Let down? Excited? Afraid? David, one of our main characters in this year’s MBT blog, feels all of those things and more.

As you rightly assumed from the title of today’s blog, David won the work from his first business pitch for his law firm. However, now the real work begins. The work, he discovers, requires all his skills, legal and otherwise. The legal work has barely begun and already the team, the firm, and the client are making him wonder why he wanted this.

In a last grab at enjoying the summer, David meets Norah on the patio of an Italian restaurant. The aroma of fresh basil fills the air. An intricately woven wicker gazebo covers the seating area allowing glints of sunlight to sparkle through while a soft breeze creates a warm, dreamy atmosphere.

“This place is beautiful,” Norah says after offering David a quick hug. “It seems we are celebrating something.” She smiles teasingly when saying this. David was too excited to wait for the dinner to tell her the story of his successful pitch. To read about the pitch, follow this link to Empowering Change: David’s First Pitch for New Business.

“Yes! Come on, sit down. I already ordered champagne, for real,” David was dressed in an expensive, slate gray suit, Norah noticed it immediately. And Norah, David noticed, wore a pink, silk pantsuit.

“New suit?” Norah asked.

“Yes. I splurged and bought it as soon as I won the work!” David waits for the beverages to be poured before continuing. Norah notices he thanked the waiter and made eye contact, too. “Norah, it was so exciting, and hard, too. I worked so hard to select exactly the right team for the meeting with the client. The fact that it was Paul’s company made me more nervous. You know, I did not want to do something boneheaded and embarrass him. We set our strategy and practiced what we would say in the meeting. It was thrilling!” David says this in a rush and stops to hold up his glass of champagne.

“Cheers to me and to you and to our careers and our family!” he says with enthusiasm. They clink glasses. Norah laughs as she sips her sparkling wine.

“You look different,” David says to her. “Calm? Happy? What’s going on?”

“I do? David you made the perfect toast! I am in a great place with my career and with our family,” Norah replies and leans forward. “My new position as Director of Diversity may be the best thing that ever happened to me. The CEO and I talk several times each week. The staff embraced my role and so many people come to me to talk about our culture. Even the head of HR, you know the one who was so stiff and judgmental before, speaks to me with respect now. She offers her support and gladly takes on the projects I give her.” Norah giggles as she says this.

“Seriously? I am surprised by her turnaround. Do you believe she is sincere?” David’s expression of concern comes from years of seeing the opposite from women in business. He expects non-supportive behavior and has seen the evidence of a knife in the back many times.

“I believe she is sincere. I was guarded at first. She told me how she never felt like she belonged at any job. She told me how she was isolated by being a woman executive among men and then by being the supervisor to the rest of the staff. She wants to pave the way for other women in her position. And she wants to feel like she is part of the team,” Norah says this thoughtfully.

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it,” David stops talking and looks at his phone. His face falls from happiness to deep concern. He runs his free hand through his hair and texts with the other one.

“Is something wrong?” Norah asks. His immediate change of expression worries Norah. David is usually the untroubled sort. Most obstacles seem to roll off him as he embraces optimism in most situations – unless they involve their father, Tony. He was also strangely pessimistic about her work friend, Ruth, the head of HR. “David, what is going on with you? I thought this was a celebration dinner.”

“Nothing, it is just a work thing. Order whatever you want from the menu. I’m paying. Order the bass for me and some antipasti. Whatever you want. I have to make a phone call,” David says and leaves the table.

Nearly 20 minutes later, David returns. Half a caprese salad is left on the table and the waiter is serving the entrees. “I am so sorry. I had to handle something,” David says as he sits back down. He stares off into the distance for such a long time it causes Norah to turn and look.

“What are we looking at?” she says.

“What? Oh, nothing. It’s just this staffing issue with the project I brought in. I want to use the person on my team who came to the pitch. You know, the person who actually helped win the work. But the partner supervising her says she does not have enough time to work on the project. I just talked to him,” he looks down at his phone and continues. “And the client is breathing down my neck. Our kick off meeting is planned for early next week and they want the entire team there. I have to bring this person, Wanda. The client loves her. And now, I don’t know what to do,” he stares off into space again. “I’m sorry. Let’s get back to our celebration.” He eats a bit of tomato and fresh mozzarella from the salad plate and his phone rings. He sighs, waves a finger to Norah signifying “one minute” and answers. Then he smiles. “All taken care of! Edgar jumped in and Wanda is back on the team.”

“Are you okay? I thought you were going to have a panic attack. Your face went pale and then turned red. Your eyes were doing that restless thing where they flit back and forth when the phone rang again. You look clammy,” Norah says and reaches out a hand to place on top of his. His skin is indeed damp and sticky.

David brushes some sweat from his brow and nods. “I am okay. My panic attacks are becoming more frequent, though. When I found out I won this piece of work I thought I was in the home stretch. I thought my quest for partnership was secure. Now I find out the collections won’t hit the firm until next fiscal year, so partnership is out this year. And, everyone involved is arguing. The associates are too busy or they are not busy enough. The client can’t decide on the agenda for the kickoff meeting. Partners are mad at me for using their associates. And we have not even started the work yet!”

“That sounds like a lot. Did you write a plan or a timeline for how the work will be done?” When David shakes his head “no” Norah continues. “In my experience, people act out or speak out when there is ambiguity. Write out a work plan and share it with the team and with the partners who also give work to the associates. Doing a little work at the outset will help you in the long run. Take control, David,” Norah grabs his forearm across the table as she says this.

“But there are so many unknowns in a deal like this. What if I am wrong?” David starts breathing quickly and heavily.

“David, look me in the eyes. Now expel your breath. Take a deep breath in and count to four with me. That’s good. Now let’s breathe out and count to seven.” They sit like that for a few minutes, neither eating, David wondering if he will pass out and Norah wondering if she needs to call 911.

After a few moments, David’s breathing returns to normal. “Thank you.”

“You need to see someone for these attacks. A therapist? Your doctor?” Norah suggests.

“You’re right. I talked with my GP about it over the years and she suggested I start taking an anti-anxiety med. I am going to call her tomorrow. I just never thought winning would be so stressful,” David sighs and begins to eat his dinner.

Norah shakes her head and eats silently. When dinner is over and before leaving the restaurant, Norah asks David to text her after he sees the doctor. He agrees.

David and Norah are unaware their father also suffers from intense anxiety. Home alone this same evening, Tony looks at his phone and wonders why David never called him back. He feels a flutter in his heart. A panic attack is coming on. He sighs and sits to start breathing through it.

Sometimes great success brings big expectations. The expectations can cause fear and anxiety. How will David and his dad continue to deal with stress? Tune in next time to find out.