Survival Guide
ex-Amazon here. You should post this. It's some internal document about how to survive the excoriating public beatdown meetings.
Q4 Beatdown Survival Guide: "Speak only when spoken to", and "Don’t be afraid to enjoy someone else’s beatdown"
Q4 Survival Guide
This document is a compendium of advice on how to handle oneself in high level management meetings in Q4. Why should you read it? Because where there are VPs there is a high chance there will also be beatdowns. What is a beatdown? Well if a dictionary definition existed it would look something like this:
Beatdown: (b
tdoun) v./adv. beat·down. To be criticized or scolded. Sit in the hot-seat. Beatdowns usually occur in public.
Beatdowns sound negative but actually the experience can be beneficial, especially when you realize that they:
can be avoided
are an opportunity to improve yourself
can be dealt with in a way that yields the right results for the company without adversely impacting your ego.
To begin your education it’s critical to understand that there are different types of beatdowns. Some use you as an example to teach everyone a lesson. Others are brought on by a problem you caused and now you will be justifiably raked over the coals in front of your peers as a lesson to them not to screw up like you did. The last and worst type of beatdown is very rare and happens when a director or VP has misunderstood the issue or is misinformed. These are not good for you, for them or for the company.
What follows is guidance I have collected from respected senior managers, directors and VPs on the correct way to conduct yourself in a business review, war team meeting or holiday call. Hopefully they help you make the best of this type of meeting and survive Q4.
Guidance on Conduct:
Speak only when spoken to. If you only follow one rule, this is it. There is also a more extreme version which is to speak only when “directly” spoken to and the person has made eye contact with you and they ask you “what do you think?” Rule 1 can be used all of the time but most definitely should be used after a beatdown.
If you do speak, be brief and concise. Give a crisp answer then STOP. Do not go into excessive detail. High level meetings are just that high level.
Right answers:
I will take care of it.
Yes, it’s global.
It will be global by x date.
Things you should never say in a meeting:
But
We’ve been talking about this for months!
Yeah, I thought that was weird too…
Admit screw-ups. The absolutely worst thing you can do is try to minimize or hide a problem. Admitting a mistake may or may not avoid a beatdown. If you downplayed a serious mistake and it comes out, we can guarantee the beatdown will be worse. If you hide a mistake, you may get away with it but no one will respect you.
Don’t fake it. In situations where you are asked something that you do not know the answer, do not give your assumption. Simply say “I do not know. I will find out and get back to you.” Also, “get back to you” means by the end of the day.
How to handle a beatdown:
When you are in a hole, stop digging. You have just been beaten down and every bone in your body wants to defend yourself. Trust me when I say, DO NOT defend yourself. To do so will only extend and potentially worsen the beatdown. The best advice we can give you is to state calmly that “you will personally address the problem immediately”. Have it resolved by the end of the day. If that’s not possible, submit a resolution plan by the end of the day. Follow rule #1 for the rest of the meeting.
Don’t deflect a beatdown by throwing your friends under the bus. Actually just don’t throw anyone under the bus. The reason is it makes you look really, really bad. Also turnabout is fair play. If anyone gets called out the first person they are going to think of is you and then guess what? You just got thrown under the bus.
Once you get beaten down in a meeting, you CANNOT ADD ANY MORE VALUE for the rest of that meeting. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON! You can maybe add value later that day, definitely later in the week but not at that meeting. I call this “the comeback”. A little while after someone has been beaten down they try to redeem themselves by offering their insight into another topic raised in the meeting. In their ego-trodden stupor they latch on to an issue that they “think” they know something about. In their mind, on this topic, they are not wrong…they can add value! They hope that smart input on this issue will redeem them! Unfortunately if this is you, heed me when I say…DON’T…seriously, don’t say anything. You cannot add any more value in this meeting, the meeting you just got beaten down in. You added your value when you got beaten down. Do not say anything more! The reason is there is a very high chance you will say something very stupid that doesn’t relate at all and look worse as a result. Our advice, follow rule #1 until you can get out of there.
What to do if the VP is misinformed or the beatdown was unfair. Don’t try to address it during the meeting. Wait a day, ask for a meeting and make your case. Present the facts. If you are right, most will defer. If you are wrong they will explain why and the good news is you will be wrong in private.
Think twice before going to anyone’s defense. If you strongly feel you want to defend someone who is being lectured, then think again. Here are some examples that should show you why it’s a bad idea:
If the VP is attempting to make an example case, jumping in only shows you don’t think you are part of the group that needs the lesson. The beatdown will shift onto you.
If the person did something wrong – jumping in may show loyalty but it is potentially going to muddy the situation and the person may not learn their lesson. This isn’t good for the company or for them.
Don’t be afraid to enjoy someone else’s beatdown because everyone gets a turn. Just remember to enjoy it on the inside only. Publicly enjoying someone else’s pain is unkind.
Last but not least always remember that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!