"The physical location wasn't the issue; the office snacks were elite. The problem was the people: the supervisor with no respect for work-life balance, the snooty coworker firing off slick emails, the boy's club that would always look out for its own. Being the only Black employee there wore me out in ways I couldn't always name. And talking it out with a licensed professional who looked like me -incense smoke in the air-helped me locate my peace from 9 to 5."
"The 1.0 version of me might've addressed the situation by mirroring the coldness I experienced early in my career, parroting those icy conversations, questioning whether I "had what it takes to be successful in a place like this." Corporate America can be cutthroat, especially when deliverables are regularly behind schedule and quotas are missed. But I felt an obligation to help my team shine, which meant pulling from the lessons I internalized back on my therapist's cozy black upholstery."
The narrator sought therapy to address workplace stress from a disrespectful supervisor, exclusion, and being the only Black employee. Therapy provided coping strategies and emotional grounding during work hours. Later, therapy lessons translated into improved managerial skills and patience. The narrator inherited a struggling team and noticed a disengaged direct report named Gina who had shifted from high effort to minimal contribution and frequent time off. The narrator resisted mirroring past cold behavior and instead combined a policy reminder with curiosity about Gina's apparent disengagement, aiming to support team performance while maintaining accountability.
Read at Fast Company
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