Why Writing on LinkedIn Got Me Called into the Big Bosses Office

The Meeting I Couldn't Skip

I got called into the big boss's office today.

It was a meeting with no agenda, just to simply meet me here in the boardroom at this time. It's the kind of meeting that I would skip and cancel on if it were anyone else except the big cheese. Understandably, I was pretty apprehensive. I wasn't sure exactly what he was going to talk to me about or what he needed from me.

I prepared what I could. I looked at my numbers. I made sure my projects were running. I opened up every spreadsheet I could find on my laptop just in case we needed to access it. I put on my best shirt and I put on my best face. I said hi to his secretary. I greeted him warmly.

The Unexpected Question

When we sat down, we went through the pleasantries, and then he asked me how my writing was going.

I said, what do you mean? He said he had been reading my articles on LinkedIn. He hadn't seen one for a few weeks. I said, oh, that's quite strange. Maybe the algorithm hasn't shown it to you. He went a bit further and he said no. He actually looks for them. He goes to my profile and he tries to find my articles.

He said he really enjoyed them.

The Pressure of Being Seen

I wasn't sure if this made me feel better or worse. I was afraid he'd be angry about my articles, but now that he said that he actually enjoyed them, I felt even more pressure. I felt the pressure of scrutiny of someone in authority looking down and reading what I was saying. I didn't know he was reading them. He said he didn't usually click the little like button, but he was checking.

I think that was a bit of a lesson for me, that you never know who's reading. But more importantly than that, you never know what influence you're having.

👋 Want to Learn More?

If you want to go deeper, I've put together resources to help:

• LinkedIn Guide: Optimize Your Profile for Success

• ChatGPT Resume Creation Guide (Full prompts)

• How to use the 80:20 rule to get more done in less time.

An Unexpected Conversation

I'm not particularly senior. I'm pretty much middle management. But he felt that because of the way that I'd portrayed my thoughts, I was someone he could trust. He went on to ask me my opinion on how things were going in the organization, where we thought the strategic direction could go, and how we could have a bigger impact in the coming years.

It all felt a bit surreal to me.

The Lesson

I left the meeting feeling great, feeling pressure, but also feeling like someone appreciated me. He'd taken an hour of his time, his super busy, super impactful schedule, to talk to me, just because of a few articles that I wrote. And I think that just goes to show, putting your thoughts out into the world is very seldom a bad thing. It's very often a great thing. It's just something that we should do. It's something that we should all do.

Don't be scared to put your work out there. People are watching.

Even if the engagement seems low, even if your articles have 10 impressions or 100 or 1,000, there are often very influential people watching and reading and being impressed by you. This is a sign to not give up, because you never know what great things come from putting your thoughts into the world, promoting yourself, not with the aim of gain, but just with the aim of showing what you can do, what you're worth, and the power of your ideas.

👋 If you are in need of more help or want one-on-one project management coaching, I’m currently taking on a few clients. You’re welcome to reach out anytime; just reply to this email or send me a DM.