What confidence looks like.

I ran from the car into the building and burst through the conference room door. “I have seven minutes,” I screamed. I was terribly late to a meeting with the head Honda client thanks to “The 405,” the most emotionally unpredictable stretch of Interstate in California.

That particular client was always precisely on time. He’d normally arrive, say “hello,” sit down and look you right in the eye. You’d have his undivided attention for the allotted time, usually 30 minutes. Not much small talk, he wouldn’t glance at his phone, it was just you, him, and the work. I arrived at minute 23 of the 30.

I was quickly getting out the storyboards for the presentation, when I hear him say, “start with the one you want to do.” Still catching my breath from the run to the building, I presented our recommended campaign. “That’s good,” he said. “Would you like to see the next idea,” I asked. “Nope,” he replied. He stood up, “let’s go with that one,” and left the room. “That’s what confidence looks like,” I thought to myself. Six minutes had passed. The meeting ended one minute early.