The weight of necessary words

Three days later and I’m still unpacking Thursday’s meeting where I had to call out a colleague’s behavior in front of the whole team.

The weight of necessary words

Not something I ever thought I’d have to do, but when someone keeps undermining project decisions and making passive-aggressive comments during presentations, eventually someone has to say something.

The weird thing is how quiet the room got afterward. Not uncomfortable quiet—more like relieved quiet. Like everyone had been holding their breath waiting for someone to address what we all knew was happening. Alex came up to me later and said he was glad I spoke up, that it had been affecting team morale for weeks.

The view from my thinking spot.

I keep thinking about how my voice didn’t shake even though my hands were trembling under the table. There’s something about protecting the work we’re all trying to do together that makes you find strength you didn’t know you had. Jake said when I told him about it that night, ‘You didn’t tear anyone down, you just refused to let the work get torn down.’ That felt right.

Turns out leadership isn’t always about having the answers. Sometimes it’s just about being willing to name what everyone else can see but no one wants to say out loud.