Tony Beshara

Michael, one of the vice presidents that we actually placed a number of years ago, takes all of his candidates that he is serious about hiring to lunch. Last week he took one to lunch and he not only did well at the lunch but was very successful in his interview with the CEO and is getting an offer. As we were talking about it, he mentioned about how often candidates really screw up a lunch interview. So I asked him what he looked for in a candidate at a lunch interview. Here are the things he mentioned that you should look for:

• When the candidate suggests a restaurant that is fairly pricey. Michael thinks that the candidate ought to let him pick the restaurant, since he is the host. Common sense and common manners would probably dictate that.

• When the candidate arrives late or after Michael does. Never be late!

• When the candidate’s eyes look around the restaurant at the people instead of looking at Michael when he speaks. Michael says that so often, even when the conversation is low, it is really easy for the candidate to lose focus and start looking around at all of the people in the restaurant. This is especially true in noisy restaurants, which, Michael adds, should be avoided.

• The candidate is either rude to or totally ignores the wait staff. Anybody with any brains on them should know that they should be nice to everybody, especially when they are in an interview.

• It’s awful when the candidate comes to the “interview” to actually “eat” rather than to interview. Michael claims that the candidate needs to forget that it’s a meal, but that rather it is an interview. Michael says that the candidate needs to remember that he’s there to get a job, not relieve his hunger. I’ve always recommended that candidates eat something before the “meal interview.” Never go to a meal interview hungry. Michael even says that in his taking clients to a meal in a sales situation, he hardly touches his food. He will let the other person eat all they want but he doesn’t eat much.

• When the candidate eats all his food. To Michael, that says that the candidate is more interested in the meal in the interview.

• Ordering a meal before Michael does. The candidate doesn’t pay any attention to the host doing the ordering; he or she simply starts ordering. The host should always order first even if the host asks the guest what he or she would like. The guest should defer to the host.

• Ordering the wrong kind of food. Anything that can’t be cut into small pieces and eaten easily should be avoided. Never order spaghetti, chili, soup… anything that can spill over dribble. And then, of course, there’s eating the wrong kind of food in the wrong manner. A person doesn’t need to use their imagination much to realize or imagine how badly this can go.

• Cutting up all of their meat before they eat it. I have to admit that this might be a bit picky on Michael’s part, but nonetheless, he thinks it’s really bad manners. The truth is, it is very bad manners.

• Starting to eat before the host is served. Once in a while, a candidate’s food will arrive at the table before Michael’s does. He thinks it’s very rude…and it is, to begin before everyone is served.

• Having more than one alcoholic beverage. I don’t recommend ever drinking an alcoholic beverage in an interviewing situation…lunch, dinner… any of them. Michael thinks that it’s okay to have a beer or glass of wine at a lunch interview…but only have one and nurse it through the whole meal. In the same way that the candidate should not be there to eat, the candidate should not be there to drink. I’m a firm believer that “alcohol and interviews don’t mix.”

• Picking up the whole roll, buttering it and eating it without pulling a piece off of it first. Okay, this is a bit picky (no pun intended) but, nonetheless, it is poor manners.

I’m sure that there are all kinds of other issues that people have about candidates eating a meal during an interview. But most managers, like Michael, would consider these very poor.

I think people should totally avoid any kind of lunch, dinner or social interview. Just too many things can go wrong that have nothing to do with the candidate and the candidate’s ability to do a job. But if you must, mind your manners.

to some of you who read this blog often, you’re going to get through the first three or four sentences and probably move on. Can’t say as I blame you. If you have learned this lesson and you practice the right “‘s scripts” you will realize when you are doing this and, above all, you will do it correctly.

We send all of our candidates through the job search solution and coach them especially on how to in the interview. And yet, I’ll be willing to bet you at less than 50% of the candidates ever practice the solutions. This is such an obvious technique, it is so simple and yet people are just plain afraid to do it

It happened today. Great candidate… A little young only 10 years of experience, but his bid a successful salesperson supposedly his whole career. He tells me the interview lasts about an hour, which is about right. He says it went well. I asked him, “how do you know?” And he says, “well, I just know!” So I ask, “did you ask how you stacked up with the other candidates? How do you compare to them?”There’s a real long pause…

He says, “while I asked him what the next step was?” I say, “is that what I instructed you to do?” There’s a long pause. He says, “well… I…” I ask, I taught you to ask, “is my experience clear? Are there any questions about my background you might have? How to why stack up with the other candidates you have interviewed? And, what do I need to do to get the job?”

Long pause again! “Ted, I really like you and you are a good candidate, but why do you not have the courage to ask for the job? It’s so simple to do.” “Well,” he says, “I guess I just didn’t think of it.”

Cut it out! He knew to ask for the job. He just didn’t have the courage to do it. I don’t know what people are afraid of. Well, maybe I do. They are afraid of being rejected! They’re afraid of being told “you suck…. We are just aren’t going to hire you!”

Well, if they’re not going to hire you, isn’t it better to know right now?

By coach every candidate that I work with to ask these questions. I guess is that only one out of 8 do it. And people want to know why they don’t get hired.

A lifelong rugby buddy of mine, Bob Ahola is a writer and a producer who lives in California. For the past two years he has sent this note about the Fourth of July. It is phenomenally interesting so, I wanted to pass it along. It really helps us appreciate all of the difficulties the signers of the declaration had. We should never take our freedom for granted. We are blessed!

Independence Day!
The Fourth of July! The birth of the United States! It’s the third most popular holiday in America. And yet so few of us know what it really cost us to achieve it … So take a minute or two look at the price that was paid to get us where we are.

July 4th is the day the Declaration of Independence passed. (It wasn’t officially signed until August 2: Signing day).

But what about the signers? Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who created this new nation in the face of accusations of treason? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated—and with much to lose. And yet they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty for their actions would be death or imprisonment were they ever to be captured.
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Elbridge Gerry each became Vice President, and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became President. The sons of signers John Adams and Benjamin Harrison also became Presidents. (George Washington was not a signatory.)

After the Revolution, 13 of the signers went on to become governors, 5 served in the House of Representatives and 6 became United States Senators. James Wilson and Samuel Chase became Justices of the United States Supreme Court. And Benjamin Franklin became our first Postmaster General.
Five of the signatories were captured by the British and held in prison. Richard Stockton was tortured by his captors and ultimately died of the wounds they inflicted.
Eleven signers had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died before the war ended in 1783—two in combat—and never saw the fruit of their efforts realized.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and never fully recovered.
Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family constantly to evade capture. He served in Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and he spent his final years impoverished and bankrupt.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson residence for his headquarters. He secretly urged General
George Washington to open fire on his own home rather than give the British that pleasure. Legend has it that Washington (superb grenadier that he was) lobbed a cannon round through the dining room window that killed a British commissary general and his staff. Nelson’s home was virtually destroyed but restored after his death as a national monument.
Francis Lewis of New York had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. (Later his son Morgan would serve as Governor of New York.)
John Hart, Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly had his house looted by redcoats. His fields and his gristmill were laid waste. And he was driven into hiding for nearly a year, as were his 13 children, some of whom he never saw again before dying two years later.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid. And to always remember: Freedom is a conscious state of being.

most recruiters don’t write too much about some of the things that go on “behind the scenes” of their business. Primarily, because most people don’t really care. But the lesson here with Michael and Tom should be one that every professional, especially a hiring manager, should remember. This kind of situation happens at least six or seven times a year and it can make a really big difference in people’s career.

Michael and Tom have been candidates of mine as well as, from time to time, hiring authorities. Early in their careers, I tried to help them both out by finding them jobs in technology sales. Over the years, both of them have been in positions to do some hiring. I would hear through the grapevine that Michael would be doing some hiring from time to time and I would call him to see if he would give me a chance at sending him candidates. I knew that he was working with other recruiters because some of my candidates would tell me that they were interviewing with him through those other recruiters (most all of whom are all gone by now). But he would not give me a chance. Interestingly enough though, every three or four years Michael, himself, would need a job and would call me asking if I would represent him, and even though I didn’t feel reciprocity I would do so. And once over that period of 20 years, I did find him a job. But even after that, when he would need to hire people, for some reason, he wouldn’t give me a chance to help him. I even remember a number of years ago, leaving him a voicemail explaining that I knew he was looking to hire people here in town and that I had good candidates for him and couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t give me a chance. Nonetheless, it was his business prerogative to find candidates anyway he wished.

Tom, on the other hand, as with Michael, whenever he needed a job would call me, but he always gave me a shot at filling his positions when they became available. Interestingly enough, over approximately 20 years I only placed one person with him, but the point is he gave me a shot at doing it the three or four times he needed to hire someone. Fair enough! All I ever ask for is a shot at the plate and if I don’t hit the ball it’s nobody’s fault but mine.

Recently both Michael and Tom, both now in their late 50s are finding it very difficult to change jobs have found themselves needing to do just that. Both are regional VP types, well into six-figure earnings and, with the glut of candidates like that on the market, they are having a pretty rough time finding a job. Fortunately, a client needing to find a regional vice president in Texas was referred to me by a friend of mine in New York. Over the last two months the firm has been interviewing eight of my candidates. Not only were both Michael and Tom in the mix, but it came down to the two of them as the finalists. The client, realizing that I’ve been in this market for 44 years asked me my opinion of each candidate, as to who I thought would do the best job. The Executive Vice President and the CEO of my client compa is any both thought either one of them could do a great job, but they asked my opinion based on the experience that I’ve had with both of them.

In most instances like this, our clients come to their own conclusions. Our job is to present qualified candidates by which to choose from, but it’s not our job to choose. But when we are asked, which happens quite often…it is another story. It isn’t hard to figure out why Tom got hired. I’m confident that Michael is a nice guy, but he was rude.

Oh my, the little comments candidates make can cost them a great opportunity. Just this last week a late 30 something-year-old candidate of our firm lost a really great opportunity because, during the conversation with the hiring authority he mentioned that someday, “he’d like to own his own business.” The company decided not to hire him because they were afraid that after a couple years there he would leave and start his own business. When we checked back with the candidate he laughed and said that he didn’t have in mind owning his own business until his kids were out of college and his oldest was only 10 years old. We asked him why he didn’t explain that to the hiring authority and his comment was, “Well he didn’t ask when I would like to own my own business!”
What most job seekers don’t really understand or comprehend very well is that interviewing and hiring authorities make a decision about hiring you based on very little information and then they justify the rest. Interviewing and hiring authorities are especially susceptible to looking for a negative. It’s very hard to get people to understand that even though an organization might be trying to hire you, they are more interested in finding reasons not to hire you as they are reasons to hire you. Hiring or interviewing authorities are more sensitive to negative comments and coming to negative conclusions far more easily than they are to positive comments and positive conclusions. What candidates have to realize is that they have to absolutely prove that they are a good candidate, whereas it’s almost as though hiring and interviewing authorities are assuming the candidate is not qualified and should not be hired before they even start the interview. Employers are not interested in a risky hire. Even getting one or two negative thoughts from a candidate will keep them from hiring that candidate. And, after all, if they don’t hire the candidate, no one will ever know if they were right or wrong.
Candidates have to realize that interviewing and hiring authorities don’t know them. These people are judging the candidate by only the words they say in the interview. In other words they are making a judgment about the candidate’s professional ability to do a job based on, at most, a one hour or two hour interview. In the above situation where the candidate stated he wanted to own his own business, had the people doing the interviewing simply been involved in a “conversation” with the candidate they might have explored the whole idea further and found out what he really meant. This demonstrates how tense and microscopic the interviewing situation is. If interviews were more “conversational” we’d all be a lot better off. But they’re not and every candidate needs to be aware that people will hang on every answer and read into them meanings that may not be there.
In my personal practice, I have at least one candidate a day say something along the line of, “Well, from my point of view..” or “The way I see it…” or “To my way of thinking…” when I confront them about the rather absurd statements they might make. Last week, one of my candidates with only 10 years of experience tried to explain to me that he wasn’t going to answer the question of how much money he was making because, in his mind he was being paid way too low and that if he let a potential employer know that, the potential employer would low ball him with an offer. I tried to explain to him in more ways than one that if he answered the question that way he’d be automatically eliminated. He kept saying, “But from my point of view…” I kept trying to explain that a hiring authority doesn’t care what the candidate’s point of view is; he or she cares about *their* strong point of view. And their point of view is that they have to know what the candidate has been making. I explained to the candidate that if he was going to continue answering that question that way, then he would just need to find another recruiter to work with him because I was wasting his time. The candidate needs to be forever conscious of how the interviewing or hiring authority sees things.
Every candidate that ever interviewed for any position, from a CEO job all the way down the corporation needs to be aware that any statements or answers given that doesn’t clearly state a positive answer will be interpreted negatively! So, no matter how many wonderfully positive answers you think you give it only takes one negative, even quasi-negative statement to blow the interview. In the last two weeks, our firm has had candidates to make these kinds of statements:
• I took the last six months off because I could afford to. (interpretation: I don’t really have to go back to work.)
• I left that job because the people running it were crazy and didn’t know what they were doing.
• I didn’t finish my degree because the degree doesn’t really make any difference.
• I followed my ex-boss to the last two jobs that I have had.
• My leaving the company is a mutual decision.
• I’m not really looking for a job. I just wanted to see what you had.
• Most of the promises my company made to me didn’t come about.
• My husband thinks that my company is taking advantage of me.
• I need to work closer to home.
Well, I could go on and on, but it’s obvious that these candidates were not thinking about how what they were saying could be interpreted. It would be really easy for any candidate to be eliminated for just saying one thing like this. Some or all of these things might be true, but a person just can’t say them in an interview.

There are few things that are more used and abused than emails in the job search. 98% of the emails job seekers send are poor and the other 2% are downright awful. I’m not sure where people get the idea of what they think an effective email should look like, but most of the time they are wrong.
Make sure that your e-mails are short and to the point. Keep this in mind when you write an e-mail. There are 205 billion e-mails sent and received every day. Business people average 126 e-mails sent and received daily, according to the The Radicati Group, Inc., a worldwide technology research firm based in Palo Alto, California. Hiring authorities and Human Resources departments receive two times the average. Picture someone who’s looking at 189 e-mails every day. You tell me if you think your four paragraph e-mail accompanied by your resume is going to be read. It’s not!
Your e-mail, preferably introducing yourself and your resume, should be short. I recommend no longer than two or three paragraphs with no longer than two or three sentences. Remember that the e-mail, like your resume, is going to be scanned, not read.
The purpose of your e-mail is to get someone to interview you! (At the least, read your resume.)
An effective “subject” line might be “Excellent salesperson,” “Outstanding accountant,” “Efficient administrator,” and so on, followed by maybe one or two sentences, highlighted with:
• Reached 120% of quota three years in a row.
• Lowered department expenses 15% three years in a row.
• Increased efficiency 20%.
• Lowered turnover 15%.
Put these in the body of the e-mail. Remember that “Stories sell . . . numbers tell.” Then, write a short, succinct e-mail selling yourself with numbers that say “I’m a good employee, and you should interview me.”
A three or four there are a few things that are more used and abused than emails in the job sear. 98% of the emails job seekers said are poor and the other 2% are downright awful. I’m not sure where people get the idea of what they think an effective email should look like, but most of the time they are wrong.

Make sure that your e-mails are short and to the point. Keep this in mind when you write an e-mail. There are 205 billion e-mails sent and received every day in the world. Business people average 126 e-mails sent and received daily, according to the The Radicati Group, Inc., a worldwide technology research firm based in Palo Alto, California. Hiring authorities and Human Resources departments receive two times the average. Picture someone who’s looking at 189 e-mails every day. You tell me if you think your four-paragraph e-mail accompanied by your resume is going to be read. It’s not!

Your e-mail, preferably introducing yourself and your resume, should be short. I recommend no longer than two or three paragraphs with no longer than two or three sentences. Remember that the e-mail, like your resume, is going to be scanned, not read.

The purpose of your e-mail is to get someone to interview you! (At the least, read your resume.)
An effective “subject” line might be “Excellent salesperson,” “Outstanding accountant,” “Efficient administrator,” and so on, followed by maybe one or two sentences, highlighted with:

• Reached 120% of quota three years in a row.
• Lowered department expenses 15% three years in a row.
• Increased efficiency 20%.
• Lowered turnover 15%.

Put these in the body of the e-mail. Remember that “Stories sell . . . numbers tell.” Then, write a short, succinct e-mail selling yourself with numbers that say “I’m a good employee, and you should interview me.”

A three- or four-paragraph e-mail is not going to get read! This also applies to LinkedIn InMails.
One last thought about your e-mails: make sure you put your telephone number under your name or your “signature.” That way, it’s easy for people to call you.
paragraph e-mail is not going to get read! This also applies to LinkedIn InMails.

Jonah Lehrer’s book, ”Imagine”, addresses how creativity works. It is an excellent book and comes to a number of conclusions about the fact that creativity is really not as much a gift as it is a developed trait. Psychologists, in recent years, have studied the relationship between persistence and creative achievement and have cited the fact that most creative people have a phenomenal ability to stick with their work in spite of all the difficulties and challenges they’re faced with. The technical term used for this trait is grit.

It made me realize that one of the reasons we have so many people in America who actually just give up looking for a job when they need one is that they lack grit.

Many of these people who give up looking for a job just plain don’t know what to do. After talking to a few friends and family they resort to hitting the send button with their resume thinking that is the work of “looking for a job.” Grit in looking for a job has to do with developing a job search strategy and executing on that strategy no matter how hard or difficult it may be. It is putting up with the ups and downs of the job search – the rejection, the refusal, the not getting called back, being told you’re the “best candidate” and then never hearing from the folks who told you that. Grit is what it takes to keep on keeping on in spite of setbacks.
Grit is focusing on the process and not worrying about the results even when it’s emotionally difficult. It is making one more call after 15 or 16 rejections in a row. It’s overcoming the downright depressive, rejected feeling when you don’t get hired to give you the moxie encourage to immediately go to another interview.

Get grit by:

• Encourage a growth mindset. Individuals with a growth mindset believe intelligence and talent can be developed through hard work and dedication. By contrast, those with a fixed mindset believe a person’s most basic abilities are fixed traits.

• Persevere (perseverance is the pursuit; grit is the trait)

• Hard work – Really, really hard work! Like pushing yourself to make 10 more cold calls, right after you have been rejected.

• Drive to improve – Get better at what you do daily. Get more interviews. Interview better. Follow up on those interviews better. Drive to improve

• Self-regulate. Don’t let others take your “power” away from you.

• Push yourself. If you don’t end the day feeling mentally and emotionally depleted, you probably haven’t worked very hard.

• Focus on what you can control and mentally and emotionally let go of the things you can’t control

Get grit!

Marilyn came to see me 12 months ago. She had been calling me for six months before that telling me she really needed to change jobs and that the company she was working for was taking advantage of her. She wasn’t making enough money, etc. But every time we made an appointment for her to come see me, she canceled. She was just too busy to get together. She finally broke away one year ago.
Over the last year, I have called Marilyn three times about an opportunity that I had for her. They were darn good ones and much better opportunities than she had. Twice she told me they sounded good and she’d get back to me about interviewing and just didn’t. Now, most recruiters with any experience would just stop trying to get Marilyn an interview. They were taught to just quit wasting their time with someone who simply isn’t that serious about changing jobs and there is a large part of me that would totally agree with that. But then again, I figured that somewhere along the line, Marilyn will simply get fed up with her present job and get serious about finding a better one. I figured that when she did, she would certainly change her ways and make time for interviewing. But just because I’ve been doing this for 44 years really doesn’t mean I know much (I’m reminded of that daily).
Then last month I found an absolutely perfect job for Marilyn. It took two days to get her on the phone, but after hearing about the job, she even agreed. Along with being absolutely perfect for her experience she was going to be able to increase her base salary by $50,000 and earn 1 1/2 times her present income. Even Marilyn seemed motivated. Well…..kinda.
As we arranged for her first interview, I spoke to Marilyn differently than I had before. I explained to her that she really didn’t act like she was looking for a job in that she was never going to find a better opportunity if she was so “busy” all the time. I explained to that her being so busy all the time was simply an excuse she used to keep the job she had so she could keep complaining about it. Some people purposely sabotage themselves in interviewing as well as seeking a job just so they can complain about the lousy job they have saying things like, “Well I’m trying to change jobs, but I’m so busy I haven’t been able to interview for a better one.” She assured me that really wasn’t the case.
We had to postpone the initial interview twice because of Marilyn’s schedule (not surprising). I forewarned my client that this would probably happen and the hiring authority was comfortable with it. After all, Marilyn’s background was pretty darn perfect for them. When Marilyn finally made it to the client after postponing it twice, she absolutely fell in love with the opportunity and the people at the client’s office. They spent three hours together on a Friday afternoon and agreed to talk over the phone on Monday to clarify any questions that Marilyn might have as well as arranging a time for a telephone interview with the CEO in New Jersey.

Marilyn was instructed to call the vice president she’d interviewed with on Monday to clarify any questions she might have about the company, the job, the pay, etc. as well as pinning down the time to speak with the CEO. By 2 PM Monday Marilyn had not called the vice president. The VP called me and asked about what was going on with Marilyn. Knowing that Marilyn hardly ever returned a phone call… because she’s so busy… I emailed her and asked her why she hadn’t called the VP. She wrote back, “busy, busy, busy. Conference calls all day and into the night. I’ll have to do it Wednesday because I’m just too busy.” What happened to all of the love that happened on Friday afternoon? The VP was appalled. So, she picks up the phone and calls the candidate, leaves a message and then emails her. The candidate writes back (and she forwards it to me), “I’m just so busy today and tomorrow that I just really can’t talk. Can we talk Wednesday afternoon? Also with the CEO?”
Well, you can probably see where this was going. Fortunately we convinced the VP to interview two other, somewhat lesser qualified, candidates when she agreed to interview Marilyn. And it’s a good thing. Wednesday at 7:30 AM in the morning Marilyn wrote an email to the VP and myself explaining that she was just too busy Wednesday to complete the calls to both the CEO and the VP, saying that she’d have to do it Thursday. I told the VP that we were wasting our time with Marilyn. Thankfully the VP at least listened enough to bring the other two candidates back to complete the interviewing process and arranged telephone conversations with the CEO for the both of them. In spite of all of this, the VP still wanted Marilyn to speak with the CEO. She flat out said that she really wanted to hire Marilyn.
Marilyn completed the follow up calls with the VP as well as the CEO late that Thursday. That Friday morning, unbelievably, the VP emailed a job offer to… Marilyn! She copied me. In the subsequent phone conversation she explained to me that the CEO was blown away with Marilyn’s background and experience and that she, along with the CEO, felt Marilyn would fit the company perfectly and in spite of the fact that Marilyn was almost too busy to speak with them, she was a perfect fit.
We have a saying around here that all of the people we work with are “spiritual beings acting human.” What we see people do defies common sense, let alone business sense. So what does Marilyn do? She tells them that she will let them know what she wants to do in a week. I try to reach Marilyn and, of course, she is too busy to talk. She emails me that she is just covered up and too busy to talk for the next couple of days. The VP, to reinforce the company’s interest, gives her a call and, alas, Marilyn is just too busy to respond to the email or give the VP a call.
After the second day of “waiting,” the VP and CEO of our client company catch on that Marilyn is just too busy to really be serious about the job. They can’t believe that they offered Marilyn a $55,000 increase in salary and a chance to almost double her present earnings of $105,000. They have the two other candidates back and hire one of them. They do it all in one day.
That Thursday evening of the week that Marilyn told us she would respond to the offer, Marilyn emails the VP and the CEO informing them that she’d like to accept their offer. When the VP writes and tells her that they hired someone else, Marilyn, instead of being gracious (and intelligent) writes them back the most rude, disparaging email explaining to them how stupid they were. Instead of keeping the door open for the future, she nails it shut with an absolutely idiotic diatribe about what they were missing by not hiring her.
Marilyn did call me. She was mad as hell. I tried to explain to her that her busyness got in the way of spectacular business and career opportunity. She mumbled something about just being so busy as she hung up the phone.
Lesson: don’t let your busyness get in the way of a good business decision.