The elevator adds an interesting dynamic to my day.  I feel that you can learn a lot about a person by how they conduct themselves before, during and after riding on an elevator.

One trend that is consistent across all executives where I work is they all feel obligated to or maybe genuinely interested in small talk while in or near an elevator.  Every time.

This always catches me off-guard.  I tend to keep to myself and rarely chat it up with people I don’t know.

“It’s cold out there, huh?”.

I have no flippin’ clue, I haven’t been outside in 6 hours.

“Yup, sure is” and I immediately go back to pretending I’m reading some interesting, work-related email on my phone.

The last time this scenario played out, I got off the elevator wondering who just had the pleasure of an awkward elevator ride with me for 5 floors.  So, I hopped on the intranet and looked around.

It didn’t take long.

I had a feeling it was someone important and it was.

The president of our company.

Add “Researching company executives” to the 2010 To-Do list, right next to “Develop social skills you effing nerd”.