Connecting at a Distance

In 1936 King George VI had to master connecting at a distance through the new and scary medium of radio. More than 70 years later the same applies, but with even more daunting technology.

In early 2008 one of my clients called me for an unusual consultation. He was then the president of one of the world’s largest investment banks. I had first coached him on interpersonal communication skills some ten years earlier, when he was an investment banker. I continued to work with him as he rose in rank and responsibility, and by the time he was president I was meeting with him quarterly. But this time it was a bit different. His firm was in the running to win a very large deal to bring to the U.S. market the stock of a large government-owned Chinese company. He had just learned that the final round of meetings with the various competing firms would be later that night New York time, next morning Beijing time. But the meeting would not be in New York; it would be in Beijing. And he was expected to be there. His counterparts at other firms would be. But it was physically impossible for him to get there on time. That put his firm at a significant disadvantage.