One approach to talent development....

So, there I was in Charleston at my annual team meeting. We had just endured our first day of meetings, and it wasn't too bad. My boss's boss, Mike, (our team leader) takes our sales team, about 25 people, out to dinner at a really nice restaurant to celebrate a really great fiscal year year.

So after dinner, we have our annual informal team recognition. Mike begins telling us how much he really appreciates everyone's efforts this year and yada, yada, yada.

Next, he gets around to recognizing the new team members. So, he comes to my table and starts talking about Lauren, a cute 22 year-old female, two years out of college. He talks about her background, her past achievements, and then he says, "I'm really looking forward to Lauren's contributions to the team. She has a lot of untapped potential....and we're going to tap it!"

No! He didn't just say he was going to tap it! But he continues, "We are going to tap it and get all we can from her." I thought I would die! Thank God I was a plebe at West Point and can maintain my bearing through anything. I saw my finance manager and shopper research expert in the corner dying a silent death of laughter. Oh, how much torture it was not to die laughing, but I knew he'd never let it go or forgive me.

Lauren, who definitely is more hip than Mike, no doubt understands the connotations and is blushing. For a 40ish out-of-touch male, he apparently assumes that the embarassment is from the public recognition, not the fact that he said he was going to "tap it" in reference to her.

The funny/sad thing is that Mike continues to make statements like this and is completely oblivious to what he says. That dinner is a running joke in our office and an unending source of entertainment as we make veiled references to those comments during our many, many team meetings.