Page 11 of One Summer Weekend
‘No, thank you. I had onewhile I was sitting in reception for twenty-five minutes.’
He prowled into my line of sight, hands in pockets, head down – a master class in mock humility. ‘I’ve said I’m sorry. Something cropped up on the shop floor, and Nick wanted to speak to me urgently. That’s what running this business is like.’ A pause. ‘Look, when I told him you weren’t my type, that was—’
‘Entirely mutual.’To drive the point home, I looked up at him, my face devoid of expression. ‘In case you need a translation, that means you’re not my type either. Which leads us seamlessly into your personality type and the questionnaire results. If you sit down, we can do an initial run-through before the management meeting.’
He hesitated, as if debating whether to obey. When at last he took the seat oppositeme, I thrust a copy of the results at him. In my desperation to avoid physical contact, I let go too soon and the print-out slapped onto the glass-topped table. Unthinking, I reached over to pick it up – and our fingers snagged. I recoiled – a response so sudden and intense that I couldn’t have covered it up, even if I’d wanted to.
He shot me a curious glance while he scooped up the papers.‘Is my personality that toxic?’
‘Let’s find out.’ To my horror, my voice was little more than a croak. I cleared my throat – twice, for God’s sake! – turned over the header page and succeeded in delivering my usual introduction about the value of self-awareness. ‘We’ll start by looking at whether you tend to be inwardly or outwardly focused. You are definitely the latter – read the descriptionand see if it rings true.’
For a few moments there was silence; then he said, ‘I suppose it does. “You like to be in a fast-paced environment” – yes. “You tend to work out ideas with others” – yes. “Talkative” – yes. Although not so much when I’m with you.’
I ignored the last comment. ‘Next we’ll look at how you like to take in information. You’ll see that you value concrete factsand details, and practical applications – more what we call “sensing” than “intuitive”.’
He studied the page and frowned. ‘I think I’m both. Yes, when it comes to business targets I like to deal in specifics. But when it comes to people, my hunches tend to be right … I mean, as soon as I saw Nick this morning I knew he’d try to screw me over, and then I could tell that you—’
‘Whatyou could tell about me is irrelevant, we’re confining our conversation to your working environment.’ A slow, deep breath. ‘Anyway, this is about preferences – it doesn’t mean you’renotintuitive. The third section shows how you make decisions. You’re “thinking” rather than “feeling” – for example, you prefer to be fair at the expense of keeping people happy.’
‘It also says I enjoy findingthe flaws in an argument. So here’s one – shouldn’t you be asking the management team these questions instead of me? For all you know, I could be pulling the wool over your eyes and simply making up the answers.’
I smiled in spite of myself, relishing a challenge that I could meet head on. ‘First, these questionnaires are designed to make that difficult to do and straightforward to detect.Second, since individual growth starts withself-awareness, you’d be doing yourself no favours. And third, as you’ve suggested, I will be gaining a more holistic and objective view of you through your interaction with others over the next few days.’ I couldn’t resist sowing the seeds of a future business opportunity, even though I wouldn’t be involved. ‘Sometimes we’re asked to coach an entireBoard, in which eventuality everyone completes the questionnaires – to inform both individual and team development.’
He stared back at me, as if pondering an intelligent reply; then he let out a low whistle and said, ‘Have you been trained to talk like that, or does it come naturally?’
Once again I ignored the personal observation, took another deep breath and turned to the next page.‘The final section describes the framework for your outer life. You are clearly “perceiving” more than “judging”. As you can see, this means a flexible approach to rules and deadlines, a preference for improvisation over planning – which can be a source of employee conflict, underperformance and frustration.’
For once his smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Makes you wonder why anyone would wantto work for such an arsehole, doesn’t it? That reminds me, it’s nearly time for the management meeting.’
I glanced at my watch in surprise: six minutes to ten. I’d been too busy concentrating on the conversational thrust and parry to notice. ‘Wait, who’s going to be at this meeting? I need an organisation chart, and—’
‘Sorry, can’t do that now – you’ll just have to go with the flow.Talking of which, I’m off to the Gents.’ He sprang to his feet, headed in the direction of his PA’s room and poked his head round her door. ‘Betsy, show Alicia to the Boardroom, would you?’ A nod back at me, with a casual, ‘See you there in five.’
