All Writing

At least in the Hunger Games, the tributes knew the rules.

Over the years, I have participated in countless promotional discussions. Most began the same way: thoughtful leaders gathered around a table, committed to making fair decisions. Performance histories were reviewed, achievements discussed, and potential debated with genuine seriousness. No one entered those conversations intending unfairness.

There is a familiar narrative repeated in leadership meetings, performance reviews, and offhand conversations in break rooms across industries.

People decide whether it is safe to speak based on what happens to the last person who did.

Over more than three decades in leadership, I began noticing something that rarely appeared in performance reviews or engagement dashboards. The people organizations relied on most were not always the ones receiving the most recognition. They were the steady individuals who stepped in when work became unclear, when collaboration stalled, or when timelines slipped.

Not long ago, one of my children asked me a question that stayed with me far longer than they likely intended: "Why do adults work so much if they don't seem happy doing it?"

There has always been a lot going on inside my head. Anyone who knows me is probably smiling right now.