A few years ago, I was working with a CEO on an investor presentation. Let's call him Steve. We decided to grab lunch and hopped on the elevator. A few floors down the doors opened and a couple of his employees got on.
Steve, the CEO, was looking down. Steve looked up and said "good afternoon" to the employees then looked back down at the ground. Steve wasn't being mean; he told me later that he just feels awkward making small talk.
And he's not alone. I have a lot of clients and friends, very smart people, who don't like small talk. Some think it's too trivial, some consider themselves uninteresting, some fear open-ended-ness and others fear rejection.
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