Lines in the sand

Been replaying Tuesday’s shift in my head for three days straight. Alex got frustrated during our team meeting about the new protocol changes, and instead of addressing it with our supervisor, he started questioning my recommendations in front of the newer staff. Not aggressively, but enough to undermine the whole discussion we’d been having about patient safety protocols.

Lines in the sand

I did something I’ve never done before - I stopped the meeting. Called a five-minute break, asked Alex to step aside with me, and told him directly that while I valued his input, undermining team discussions wasn’t helping anyone learn the new procedures effectively. The whole conversation lasted maybe two minutes, but it felt like jumping off a cliff.

Processing thoughts one page at a time

The thing is, it worked. Alex apologized immediately, said he hadn’t realized how his tone was coming across, and when we reconvened, the rest of the meeting was actually productive. But what’s been keeping me up isn’t the conflict itself - it’s realizing I’ve been avoiding these moments for months because I was worried about being seen as “difficult” or “controlling.”

Turns out there’s a difference between being bossy and being clear about what the team needs to function. Who knew that sometimes leadership means saying the uncomfortable thing in the moment instead of letting it fester? Still processing what this means for how I show up at work going forward, but I’m pretty sure this was one of those small moments that changes everything.