We have a privilege as people. We can choose to be there for one another.
In my career, I have been called unkind names and referred to with negative adjectives. I have been called soft, weak, silly, along with some additional disparaging and discriminatory terms (not often, to be fair, but these were usually from a colleague in senior leadership). I have been told I was unwelcome, not built for successful roles, too concerned with people rather than profitability, and once I was told my children would not be proud of me (seriously).
Deep breath.
Here’s what I have also been called: kind, passionate, respectful, empathetic and a true friend. I have been told I was the fairest person in the room, the core to bringing people together, specifically designed to build successful brands, and once a COO told me that he’d take a bullet for me any day of the week.
Deep breath.
Through these wildly varied responses to my person, I have had to learn how to find my own center and purpose without being swayed by the crowd’s opinions. This sounds very “ABC After School Special,” right? But here I sit in 2026 having conversations with business owners, C Suite executives and HR & TA leaders who still struggle with the opinions of others. When I get a good response in a meeting, I do well. When the meeting bombs, I am doing terribly.
First, a meeting is a point in time. Just like a day or a week. It might be a bad day, but you are not a bad person because of it. The messaging swimming in our heads that says we’re a failure is a lie.
To be balanced, however, that point in time could illuminate a pattern we should address. If the meeting went poorly, ask the why questions separately from the “why me” question. Perhaps you didn’t prepare enough. Perhaps you prepared the wrong information. Perhaps the expectations for each attendee were not set well. Those issues and more can be addressed and corrected for the future without having to delve into personal despair.
Secondly, this is where your people really matter. Think about those you reach out to. Why them? Have they shown a committed interest in you? Do they challenge you in healthy ways? Do they answer when you call? Think about your people. In these moments, you will need some people to be there for you. They should be able to listen to you and to help you get to the moment in time analysis and move away from the “what’s wrong with me” analysis.
It is our privilege to be both a recipient as well as a contributor in relationships with others. If the sky is regularly falling in your perceived world view, then your people will get weary. Have you needed to bounce from BFF to BFF every year or so? As harsh as this may sound, maybe you need to check to see if you regularly suck the air out of a room. Are you just too convinced that everything is hard and everyone hates you? That’s a lot to ask of your people to lift you out of a pit each and every day. You might need to segue to more professional support to understand and to undo this response and its associated behaviors.
In business, these relationships matter just as much as they do personally. You are one person living one life. Think about who you are surrounded by. Thank those folks and ask how you can be better for them, too.
We are built for relationship. Study after study tells us this. Today, as a point in time, might be just the day to take stock of those relationships and to lean into them. One awful comment, one bad meeting, one difficult week do not define you. Your people will remind you of this.