2022 · originally posted on LinkedIn
It's important to me as a leader that I do what I can to cultivate a place where people can bring their truest selves to work. Laughter, play, and fun all have key roles in incubating this culture. It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, this team's gotta be real and human when it matters most.
I went through some heavy personal stuff this week. I cried a lot today. I struggled to hold it together in my meetings and during some announcements I had to make. The team knew what was up. I came right out and told them first thing today what was going on. This took a lot of courage and trust for me to do.
Like integrity and empathy, leadership as a craft is most apparent in the hard moments and during the tougher days. And as sure as my team came to my aid to comfort and support me today, they already know how eager and willing I am to reciprocate when the rollercoaster that is this life throws them around too.
Of course, I don't ever want the wonderful people on my team to go through serious sadness, hurt, or pain if I can help it. There are other leadership traits and skills I can use to mitigate those if I'm organized, on the ball, and a good communicator. However, in those hard moments that are impossible for any of us to avoid, they'll remember from the example I've set today that they never have to cope and suffer alone.
As I said before, this team's gotta be real and human when it matters most.