Where You Stand Depends Upon Where You Sit
One of the things I heard again and again when interviewing executives for The Next Level was, "If we give you a seat at the leadership table, we expect you to participate." Good advice for sure, but you may be asking yourself, "Which seat?"
The editors of Business Week have come to the rescue to answer that question. The July 23 issue has an interesting article titled "You Are Where You Sit." Complete with a helpful picture that shows the pros and cons of each seat position around the table, the article explains how positions play out.
In the "Wow, I could have had a V-8" category of blinding flashes of the obvious, the article points out that sitting on the edge of the room instead of at the table is not a great strategy for showing up with a strong presence. Some of the other observations are a little more nuanced. Check it out and let me know where you’ll be sitting at your next team meeting.