The Art of the Micro-Impression: Forging Genuine Rapport with Senior Leaders

How Small Interactions Build Powerful Professional Bonds and Make You Memorable in Your Daily Work.

When I was a younger engineer at Amazon, long before I became a Principal, there was this famous VP whose office I walked by every day. It had a lot of windows, and he was always in there, staring intently at his computer, often with a slightly annoyed expression. My route to the bathroom took me right past his door.

The first few times, I just hurried by. But then, we started making eye contact. I’d give a little nod. He’d return it. Over weeks, that nod evolved into a small wave. Then one day, he actually got up from his desk as I passed, and we had a brief chit-chat. This became a semi-regular thing.

One afternoon, he stopped me on my usual bathroom trek and said, "Steve, come in for a minute." He sat me down and, to my surprise, spent nearly an hour walking me through every business he had a personal investment in. It was super interesting, though I did need to go to the bathroom pretty bad by the end.

I have no idea why he chose to share all that with a relatively low-level enginee…