2:42 PM

She had learned to speak last.

It was something a coach had suggested years ago.

If she gave her view first, everyone else tended to discover that they agreed with it.

So she waited.

The slide showed three options.

None was obviously right.

"What are you seeing?" she asked.

Nobody answered.

She looked at the CFO.

He looked down at his notes.

The head of operations adjusted his glasses.

Someone at the end of the table took a sip of water.

She waited.

Eight seconds felt much longer in a boardroom.

Finally she said:

"I genuinely haven't decided."

A few people smiled.

She wasn't joking.

"What do you think?"

Nobody moved.

Someone looked at the clock.

Then everyone looked back at her.