Senior leader at work wants a 1:1 meeting with me, AIBU to be nervous?

[76543br]

I had a completely out-of-the-blue email from a senior leader at work (my manager's, manager's manager) asking for a 1:1 catch-up meeting. It sounds like it's just an informal catch-up but I'm kind of anxious about it and knowing what to say.

I did have some extended sick leave recently due to my mental health and I'm worrying it could be related to that?

Impossible to guess - sorry OP. How is the market in your profession/company - any rumours?

Phishing

They are most likely just wanting to check how you are getting on after your absence and hopefully going to ask if there is anything the company can do to help if you are struggling. I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about.

Has your manager mentioned it? If not, ask them about it.

It could be a welfare check/welcome back and this senior manager is the only person available.

Or do you have similar name as someone else and they've invited the wrong person?

do you have a HR department? If it was anything to worry about someone from HR would be looped in. Sounds like it’s just an informal chat for him to understand your role a bit more?

We can’t tell you I’m afraid. But you’d think it would be your line manager in the first instance rather than several bosses up.
Could be anything, a check in, a secondment or responsibility opportunity, a restructure. It’s horrible not knowing but you’ll just have to see. You can always ask if there’s anything you need to prep beforehand to see if they give you a clue.

Could you reply and ask what it is in relation to?

I asked somebody for a meeting and they replied yes but could I give them an idea of what it was about beforehand. Initially I thought it was a bit odd but then thought there was no harm in saying what I wanted to speak to them about. I also was glad they asked because otherwise they were probably worrying about it which was not my intention.

I have pretty regular meetings with HR as part of my return-to-work, and my line manager didn't mention anything in our meeting today

I find that with meetings like this, it never hurts to ask! You can say "It'd be great to catch up, what's the context? Is there anything I should do to prepare?"

If you still get radio silence, then it helps to remember that in meetings like this, with no agenda, you can't be expected to give an immediate response to anything really! You can always say "thank you for sharing this information with me (or thank you for your offer), I will give it some thought and will come back to you."

Your mental health may be playing tricks with your mind. Or it may not be. There's only one way to find out.

Good luck.

Fairly common in my industry for senior leaders to have “skip levels”. Intended for them to boost morale and hear directly from people on the ground re issues and concerns. You soon learn that they don’t really want to hear problems and have to come up with something banal but impressive. An art!

Have any others been invited? Perfectly reasonable for you to ask your manager what they know/advise re intent of the meeting.

I had something similar and it turned out there was an internal investigation about my boss as a disgruntled ex emoloyee had put in a malicious complaint. I was asled a few questuins about what it was like working for my boss and the company and never heard anything more about it

Just ask what it's about, ask if there's anything you can prepare beforehand.

Check with colleagues and see if any of them also have 1-2-1 with this person, maybe it's a new thing you missed while you were off.

Alternatively are there any concerns about your line managers performance, could they be wanting to scope that out?

Every time I have been called to one of these meetings during my career I have been a nervous wreck. Every single time without fail, it has been a nice catch-up conversation that often includes the senior member of staff saying very nice things about me.

over the years I have gotten more vocal and been able to use these conversations as real opportunities instead of just letting them take the lead the entire time. That takes a bit of experience and getting to know people though. You need to know how best to handle particular people.

Catastrophising is part of anxiety.

Could be reverse mentoring?

did your sickness trigger a formal attendance warning? Might be something good!

It is, but the OP is not catastrophising, they are just a bit nervous.

@76543br If you are in an organisation with a HR department, this meeting is not likely to be to do with your sickness absence in a negative way, as that would usually be dealt with according to policies and by your line manager.

Hopefully they are just checking you are OK

I think if it was something to worry about you would have been given the option of contacting your union or 'taking someone'. Bad form not say what it is though, and a needless cause of anxiety.

Checking you're OK, or investigating a complaint about your manager.

I highly doubt your x3 Manager would be getting their hands dirty with anything nasty. That would be a straight HR meeting.

I'd expect it's either a random chat catch-up 'meet the team' type meeting or they're investigating your manager for something.

Maybe your manager isn't very experienced at supporting people with poor mental health, and this person is. Sounds like the way this catch up has been booked into your diary has done nothing to help you manage your anxiety, but it could just be a very friendly meeting with good intentions.

Could be a promotion!

Good advice. Ask if there's anything they'd like you to prepare.