Growing pains and coffee stains

That conversation with Alex keeps replaying in my head. Two weeks ago when I had to address his competitive intensity during our team workouts, I thought I was just solving a simple workplace dynamic issue.

Growing pains and coffee stains

Turns out it was way bigger than that.

It’s one thing to help a friend work through training challenges. It’s another to realize you’re actually managing a professional relationship where someone needs clear boundaries, and you’re the one who has to set them.

Processing mode activated.

The weird part? Alex thanked me afterward. Said no one had ever been that direct with him about his approach, and it helped him understand why some of his other collaborations felt strained.

I keep thinking about what Sarah said when I told her about it - that leadership isn’t always about having answers, sometimes it’s about having difficult conversations at the right time. Jake made dinner while I processed this whole thing, which tells you everything about why we work. Some lessons you have to learn by stepping into them, apparently.