The Weekend Was Beginning

Some of the most honest leadership conversations happen as the week is coming to an end.

Late Friday afternoon.

In a conference room, an executive loosened his tie, took off his jacket, and set them on the table.

Across from him sat a younger colleague who had asked if they could talk before heading into the weekend.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Then the younger colleague described a close familial relationship that had followed them for years.

Expectations.

Guilt.

The sense that no matter what they did, some part of them was still trying to earn peace.

The executive listened.

After a while he said quietly:

“Earlier in my life, certain people determined my emotional posture.”

He folded the tie slowly in his hands.

“My reactions…

my explanations…

even my silence…

were still orbiting them.”

The room was still.

“At some point something shifted.

I realized the center of gravity had moved.

Not away from the person.

Just back to myself.”

“I still know the facts of the relationship.

They’re part of my life.

But they don’t determine my posture anymore.”

The younger colleague asked what that felt like.

He thought for a moment.

“Peace.

Centered.

Freer.”

He stood, picked up his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder.

The week was ending.

The weekend was beginning.

And sometimes that’s when you notice the weight you carried for years was never yours to keep.

My Auténtico Self™