Who's The New Guy ?

Today's Song Of The Day is "The Sound Of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel.  And I am starting today's blog post with that song because the sound of silence was all I heard after I spoke up on a conference call at work today.  And I am convinced that, at least for some, my blog post title question is what was going through the minds of my peers on the call.

There is not much more I can explain about it, but for truly inquiring minds, here is as best of a synopsis as I can provide.

In my new role at work, I am now involved in a company-wide bi-weekly conference call, which includes about 35-40 leaders from our Training, Academy (New Hire), and Coaching leadership team from across the country.  Unlike many groups of this size, the TAC group actually gets things done.  This, of course, has all happened before I joined the group.

After a hearty discussion around several topics on the agenda, we were nearing the end of the meeting and did a "round table" (this is when anyone from the general group can bring up any questions, ideas, concerns, etc.)  I had previously spoken with my Manager about bringing up a general question about a recent change in our call flow.  She agreed it was a good idea so I brought it up when the round table got to our Colorado participants.

And there was dead silence after I spoke.

Like seriously dead silence.

Like the kind of silence they portray in the movies when someone says something or does something that is so offensive or unacceptable that everyone ... just ... stops.

After the call was over, my Manager came to my desk and reassured me by expressing how confused she was at the silence that occurred.  No matter.  It will still forever haunt me whenever I am on this conference call going forward.  I'll always picture the other participants hearing my voice and preparing to be as quiet as humanly possible.

Sigh ... oh well.  :)

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