My Mistake 🌧

Any regrets that I have stem from the same thing: not being direct when it could hurt someone’s feelings. In the long run it did more damage than if I spoke my mind clearly and directly earlier on. Here is an example.

My first true leadership experiences was as president of my fraternity in 2014. I grew frustrated by one of my VPs who, although I thought I was being clear by leading by example, was not executing on his responsibilities. I tried to be blatant with my examples. We even discussed accountability as a group. However, I never addressed what was bothering me directly with him and, shockingly, the problem never fixed itself.

This same tendency came to haunt me during my first couple years as a professional, and I’ll save you the details on how I mishandled romantic relationships in the same way.

Hoping a problem will fix itself is a bad strategy.

What this taught me ☀

Leading by example alone is not enough.

In work, and relationships, it is still best to lead by example. Pair this with a curiosity for the other person’s point of view and forthcoming communication with what you expect.

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