Mining Professional Setbacks for Justice & Responsibility Seeds

Here’s a quick reminder: I’m not sharing any of this for sympathy. Hell, I don’t want it! I’m also not reliving any of this to shine a negative light on anyone. If that were the case, I’d be listing their names and tagging them on social media - and some of them absolutely deserve that and far more. In complete transparency, it would be significantly easier for me to have never dug back through a few of the memories I’ve detailed here; the lowball offer and what happened when an opportunity turned toxic were the hardest professional situations I had dealt with to that point. But having never experienced them, I wouldn’t have been as prepared to handle some of the things we worked through since. Because we intentionally mined those professional setbacks for justice and responsibility seeds, though, we’ve been able to navigate far more complex adversities in the years since with relative ease.

Like we’ve done in wrapping up each part of the story I’ve lived leading up to where we’re at now, here are five questions I want you to work through so you can find any possible seeds that help build your keen sense of justice and willingness to accept full responsibility from whatever hand you may have been dealt.

• What professional setback (low offer, moral dilemma, ostracism, etc.) still carries weight for you?
• What blind spot or habit did it reveal, and what seed of greater purpose (e.g., justice or responsibility) was hidden?
• How could a decisive pivot strengthen your sense of justice or willingness to assume full responsibility?
• In what ways might nurturing this seed improve your influence without title—at home or work?
• What three small, immediate actions can you take this week to plant and nurture it?

Make no mistake, I’m not suggesting you accept responsibility for things that were out of your control when they occurred. I am, however, challenging you to take complete responsibility for how you handled those adversities (or how you handle future adversities) and how that keen sense of justice drives your decisions. As you do, targeted reflection will help you turn professional bad situations into leadership gold. Start negotiating your value with integrity today and share one immediate action step you can take with someone you trust to hold you accountable.