A moment to reflect.

I went into the room for a final interview. At one point, it felt as though we were already working together.

I was interviewing for a European procurement leadership role. After several online interviews, I travelled to a manufacturing site in Berlin to meet the executive who would make the final decision—and become my boss.

I was tense. We had never met, and I didn’t know what to expect.

He explained how procurement was organized and asked what I would do in my first six months.

As we explored the challenges, the conversation became more complex. I noticed a whiteboard on the wall.

I stood up, picked up a marker and began mapping out my thinking: priorities, ideas and how the team could be structured.

I wasn’t trying to impress him with an interview technique. It simply felt like the clearest way to explain.

Then he stood up too.

He began contributing, questioning and building on the ideas. We were exploring the problem together.

By the end of the interview, I felt we had made a genuine connection. I had arrived wondering what he would ask me. I left knowing what it felt like to work through a business challenge with him.

I eventually got the job. I can’t say how much that moment influenced the decision, but I remember how different the conversation felt.

Looking back, I see how making my thinking visible changed both how I felt and how we interacted.

I was still in a final interview. The stakes hadn’t changed. But as we worked at the board, I became more absorbed in the business challenge and less preoccupied with being evaluated.

At the time, moving to the board was intuitive. Only afterwards did I recognize how that simple action had changed the conversation.

In my executive coaching work, I help clients reflect on experiences like this: what helped them move forward, what they can learn about themselves, and how they can apply that learning to the challenges they face now.