"Same Words, Different Worlds"
That holiday email from my boss, the long list of issues that landed just as they went on leave, taught me another lesson. Not everyone would have reacted the way I did. For me, it spiralled quickly into stress and self-doubt. But I can think of colleagues who would have shrugged it off, waited until the boss returned, and carried on without losing much sleep. The difference isn’t just circumstance, it’s personality. Psychologists talk about the OCEAN model, one of the traits being Neuroticism. People higher in Neuroticism tend to feel stress more acutely, dwell on criticism, and ride those emotional highs and lows harder. People lower in it tend to be more even-keeled under pressure. The point isn’t to label or box people in. It’s to remember that the same message doesn’t land the same way for everyone. What feels like “just feedback” in one person’s world can feel like a verdict in another’s. As leaders, we can’t predict reactions perfectly, but we can be curious about the people we work with. The better we know their tendencies, the better we can tune our timing, our words, and our support. Same words. Different worlds. Leadership lives in noticing the difference. Until next time, ✉️ Enjoying The Messy Middle? If someone sent this email your way and you’d like to get it direct, you can sign up here. |