“We need to talk.”

I had taken a potentially controversial approach on an assignment.

It answered the client’s need, but I took a chance.

Because I thought it was the right approach.

I submitted it Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday, I opened the first email from the client since turning it in.

“We need to talk” was the entirety of the message.

“How ‘bout now?” I responded.

“Yes. Call me immediately.”

We need to talk? Call me immediately?

As I dialed, I shouldered a crushing avalanche of imposter syndrome and hurriedly reviewed the thought process behind my decisions on the assignment.

Hearing “You took it too far. You’re fired.” in my head over and over, it seemed like the phone rang at least 30 times.

“Scott. Thanks for calling.”

I played it very cool: “No worries. What’s up?” 

“We’re gonna put on a major push and will need a lot more of your hours in August and September. Do you have room for us?”

“August, yes. September, no.” My adrenaline was still pumping from my fear of facing disaster.

“Let’s set up a Zoom call and work out the details. Does Friday at 11 or 2 work?”

“Two. I’ll send an invite. I thought you were calling about last week’s deliverable.”

“Yeah. That raised a few eyebrows, but it’s good to go.”

 

We need to talk? Call me immediately? Words can trigger emotion.

I guess that’s the lesson from this experience. Words can trigger emotion.

Either that, or as Mark Twain said, “I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”