Asocial event was Jamie’s most comfortable setting, and that night at dinner he regained some of his confidence. He made sure to spend time with Rita, rebuilding any damage he might have done during the break earlier that day. And he told a hilarious and self-deprecating HR joke during dinner, purposefully showing everyone that he could laugh at himself. Jamie was beginning to believe he could pull this off.

But by the next morning, his sense of dread returned. He knew that by the end of the day he would have to engage more, and then lead a meaningful confrontation exercise around leadership. He had an idea, but whether he could actually pull it off, he wasn’t sure.

The day’s session began with Rich’s quarterly review of the company’s overall plan, which, as far as Jamie could tell, had changed very little since the previous quarter. Still, Rich covered every bit of it, point by point. The company’s underlying purpose for the business. Its behavioral values. Its business definition. Major organizational objectives. Everyone was rapt, as though they were hearing it for the first time.

The rest of the day proceeded much as the previous one had. The team hashed out many of the operational and strategic issues facing the firm—everything from marketing to partnerships to facilities. And throughout the day, skirmishes broke out among the team members, each one leading Jamie to conclude that he might never be able to do this.

One particular discussion made an impression on Jamie, not because of its fireworks, but ironically, because of the ease with which a potentially sticky decision was made. Rita announced that the firm had no luck leasing more space in the building where it currently resided. She verbalized what everyone else was thinking. “We either need to move two of our departments to another site, or find a new home for the entire company. I’ve identified two options for each scenario.”

Tom couldn’t believe they had already run out of space. He had hoped to avoid this issue for as long as possible. “I guess this is a good problem to have, although it scares the hell out of me. How far away would the satellite office be?”

Rita looked at her notes. “Three blocks. And it has room for forty-five employees.”

Mark didn’t want to move his department. “I’ve got almost that many now, so it looks like a no-go for me. What about you, Janet?”

“Well, I’ll have twenty by the end of the year, so I could probably make that work for a year or two.”

Rich decided to guide the conversation. “It sounds like everyone is leaning toward the satellite option rather than moving the entire firm.” They could tell he was trying to make a statement of some kind, and Rita took his bait. “The idea of moving the entire company is pretty awful to me. The last move took so much time we lost almost three weeks with all the hassles.” She was always the practical one.

Rich was not. “We can dive into the short-term pros and cons of these options, but I think it would be better to step back and ask ourselves what would be in the best long-term interest of who we are.”

Mark seemed puzzled, so Rich explained. “Think about our strategy and our history.”

Tom caught on right away. “Yeah, we’re always talking about the importance of cross-functional teams and tearing down silos. Having two sites is not going to help that.”

Rich added, “And if we’re going to absorb the new retail team, we’ll want to have them mixed in with everyone, not just Janet’s people. Otherwise they’ll never really blend.”

Mark came around. “That’s true, because if we don’t give them a ton of support right away, I’ll never hit the $3 million retail number.”

As valid as these points were, the practical implications were still daunting for Rita. “But next quarter we’re going to open a Seattle office. We have to get used to multiple sites eventually, don’t we?”

“Yes, but whenever we can avoid it . . .” Rich interrupted his own thought. “Look, I think location is vital when it comes to people communicating and working together. Two blocks away or two hundred miles—it’s pretty much the same.”

Tom pitched in. “Remember what it was like working with Trinity Systems last year? Three buildings on the same campus, and we had one hell of a time getting strategic planning and marketing to communicate. It was ridiculous.”

“You’re right. I know it.” Rita relented. “But my life is going to be a mess.”

“What are the two options for new space?” Tom wanted to keep the conversation going.

Rita exhaled. “Well, there’s a nice building with plenty of space near the new ballpark. And then there’s a gorgeous space that just opened up north of the Embarcadero. It looks like a palace, but the price is pretty much the same as our other option.”

Mark had a soft spot for luxury. “I vote for the Embarcadero.”

This time Tom played Rich’s role in the discussion. “What makes the most sense in terms of who we are?”

Rita had an answer right away. “The ballpark. It’s nice but not overly so. It’s more convenient to the airport and freeways. That means shorter time for clients to get to us and for us to get to them.”

Rich reminded them of their roots. “And I don’t think we want our clients wondering how we can afford to live in a palace. It doesn’t really fit with our commitment to humility and customer intimacy.”

Rita scribbled notes on her pad. “The ballpark looks like the right answer. I’ll meet with the real estate guy and see how fast we can make this happen.” She turned to Barry. “Can I hire a contractor to handle this move so I don’t drown here? This is a busy quarter for me.”

Barry nodded. “I’ll check the budget. It should be fine.”

Suddenly the conversation was over. The subtlety of what had just happened almost made Jamie miss its significance. He remembered many similar conversations taking place in his career. The difference was the time frame. It had taken Telegraph less than twenty-five minutes to make a decision that other companies spent weeks, sometimes months, discussing. Making a location move usually brought out a host of sensitive issues and posturing on the part of executives. They wanted to see all the plans, argue for space, and have a guided tour. Not Telegraph. What is going on here? Jamie asked himself.

Rich refocused the meeting. “Okay. Before we let Jamie do the team-building exercise, let’s talk about the cascading communication plan.” Rich went to the flip chart at the front of the room and asked, “What are the key messages we need to bring back to our people when we get back to the office next week?”

Jamie watched as the group tossed out key issues and decisions that were made: the Sausalito acquisition, next quarter’s goals, two promotions, a key change in expense policy, a new training program, and the facilities move. After fifteen minutes of discussion, they agreed to communicate everything on the list with the exception of the potential Sausalito acquisition, because it was still pending. Then they spent a few minutes talking about the right way to articulate a few of the more sensitive issues so employees had the complete picture.

As he always did at the end of a cascading session, Rich reminded them of their responsibility. “So let’s all take these messages back to our staffs by the end of day Monday.” He added, “And remember, if we don’t do it right away, we’ll forget some of the essence of the issues, and your people are going to hear about them from someone else. Don’t let that happen.”

Heads nodded as if to say, “Okay, okay,” and everyone busily copied the material from the flip chart.

Rich then spoke the words that Jamie had dreaded. “Alright Jamie, you’re up.”