Do your best
I’d prepared. My resume landed me on a short list and I got an interview. In the culture that I’d been fortunate enough to make a late life pivot into at 62 the interview process is… different and difficult. It’s 3–4 questions you receive 30 minutes before and interview that is really just a 20 minute monologue of you answering the questions in whatever order you like with examples, and stories in a problem, action, result style approach. I’d read the job description, the skill set they were looking for and I’d done my homework on possible relevant stories I could tell. Or so I thought…
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Being from the old school I’d risen early and ironed my clothes and put on a tie because even though I’d been instructed to call in I wasn’t sure if this would be a phone interview or a Zoom like teleconference. The email with my 4 questions arrived. But there were sub questions and chart examples I had to analyze. It was not what I was expecting or prepared for. I was reading the material, the clock was ticking and in my head I was thinking I’m going to email them and cancel. I may have even said out loud. “This is too hard.” Just then my beautiful wife poked her head into the office where I was struggling and said calmly “Do your best.” These 3 words flipped a switch in my brain. Because I knew I could deliver that. My best. It may not be enough. But I could show them who I was. I handled 3 of the 4 questions with poise and my experience shined through. I stumbled through the final question, not answering up to my own standard.
In the end I learned a lot about pressure, confidence, focus, and how in situations like this preparation is fine but you have to put the John Boyd OODA method into action. Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. If you can do that, and just do your best, your true self shines though. I have a better appreciation for the method and hopefully a better approach for next time. And I will never forget the words “Do your best.” And the way it made me feel in a pressure packed situation.
