When I called a vice president of training, she answered her own phone in a notably quiet voice. Upon hearing who recommended that I call, she spent a good minute talking about her friendship with the person. When I asked for an appointment, she said that her schedule was flexible. At our meeting, she greeted me by my first name in a warm voice. We sat in a comfortable seating area away from the desk. She brought in two coffees and we talked about the training program. She was most concerned about the training’s potential effect on the communications between management and employees. Though I felt that she had really listened, we had not made a great deal of progress in terms of identifying training needs. Nonetheless, we had developed a strong personal trust and parted our first meeting as friends.

• How would you rate her openness?
• How would you rate her directness?