Some time ago, there was a mechanical problem with the heating/cooling system in our part of the building, and one of the senior managers in our group took the opportunity to tell a story of a one-on-one skip-level meeting he had with Steve Sinofsky.

I’m sitting there in my office with Steve, and there was something wrong with the HVAC, because as the meeting progresses, it gets warmer and warmer, and eventually I’m sitting there sweating profusely, not exactly making the best impression on our group president. Steve, on the other hand, appears to be completely unaffected. It’s sweltering in my office, but he’s cool as a cucumber.

It can’t be more than five minutes after the meeting is over before a team of technicians swarms into my office to figure out why the heating system has gone berzerk.

Steve must’ve whipped out his phone as soon as he left, called the Facilities desk, and said “Dude, there’s something seriously wrong with the heating system over in room 1234. It’s like an oven in there. You need to check it out.” And since the request came from a corporate president, it got dispatched with high priority.