Leadership Hurt Is Real

There will be a time or two that you will experience leadership hurt in your journey. Whether it is someone you thought was your most trusted, or someone flat out starting rumors and causing chaos. We are told to be strong, don’t be a punk, and suck it up. But if we are all being honest, betrayal, being lied to, and being used just suck. But why do these things happen? How can we prepare for some of these times?

I know firsthand that I’ve hired people and onboarded clients before that, throughout the interview or the discovery process, there were hints. They might have said something in passing and I chose to ignore it because I wanted to hire them or needed to fill a spot.

Maybe I hired a friend or family member because I thought it would be okay or I was just helping out. Before you know it, that little comment I chose to ignore starts coming to light.

I remember hiring someone who, in passing, shared a story about a little white lie they told to get a project. I was so excited to bring that person onboard that, even though I know better because I hire for character and not just skills, I chose to hire them anyway.

I soon found that they were lying to me, and in the back of my mind I had to coach myself and say, “What did you think was going to happen?” I hate when my coaching voice kicks in on me and is right.

I was in my early 20s and thought I could, regardless of what my mentors told me.

However, I’ve been hurt by people I’ve known for years who were really good people, and I truly enjoyed all the projects we worked on together. I didn’t see it coming, nor did I see any signs, but the betrayal still happened.

While the hurt was real, I’ve made it a point to never bring my character down nor do anything grey that people can question. I’m not perfect, but when I mess up, I make it right and apologize with truth.

No matter how big or small, I do not do grey.

My word and my character are all I have, and if I lose that, I lose it all.

So here are some simple ways to catch cues and prepare for times like this.

Here is how to put that into practice this week.