Ambush

There's a specific feeling when a meeting ambushes you. Everything is moving along normally. And then something lands that others clearly already knew but had not shared in previous meetings.

A decision already made. A change that affects you directly - announced rather than discussed. You remain composed on the outside, while recalibrating everything on the inside.

Blindsiding someone in a meeting is a choice. Intentional or careless - the message is identical. Your preparation didn't matter to them.

I've been blindsided more than once. I internalized it. Assumed I missed something. I didn't. That was on them.

True professionals pick up the phone first. They deliver hard news privately before they deliver it publicly. They give people the dignity of being prepared. A blindside isn't a communication failure. It's a leadership failure wearing one as a disguise. And everyone in that room is watching. Not the news. They are watching you.

I made a decision after the first time it happened to me. Nobody on my team would ever sit in that chair. Not once. That's not a courtesy. That's the job.