Nobody Is Watching — The Spotlight Effect

How to overcome the spotlight effect and use it to your advantage

Welcome to the first newsletter edition published from Substack. The newsletter will have the same great taste but in new and improved packaging. Don't you worry though, there won't be any shrinkflation.

Before I left Amazon, I was in a high-stakes negotiation dealing with a large external company. We were discussing a potential deal with folks from their C-Suite at their corporate headquarters. They had provided lunch, but I hadn't eaten when everybody else did. I had taken a late flight, was handed a boxed lunch, and took my seat at the table.

I was absolutely starving when the meeting kicked off. All I wanted to do was eat the bag of Cool Ranch Doritos in my hands, but the room was quiet except for the executive speaking. I tried to open the bag as daintily as possible, but it felt like it was so loud. I powered through and ate the loudest bag of …