Vachon Imagined

He was my boss, and he wasn’t doing what I thought he should.

It wasn’t illegal. Maybe it wasn’t even immoral. Those were the two standards by which I was raised, and by which I learned to evaluate things in my career before making a decision.

And this wasn’t one of those times.

But aggression, when it isn’t met with humility, can become a tornado of certainty.

And certainty can make you believe you are right long after you’ve stopped listening.

You make enemies. You step over people. You push your way into spaces that aren’t yours yet. You try to lead when it isn’t your time to lead.

And that’s not confidence.

That’s foolishness dressed in superiority.

When it is your time to lead, when it is your time to make decisions that affect lives and change outcomes, you won’t have to force it.

It will happen.

The door will burst wide open for you.

And when it does, it will be because you followed well, listened well, learned well, and became capable of carrying what was placed in your hands, not because you insisted that doors open before you were ready.

Steady humility is assertiveness.

Steady aggression is a fire with no mechanism to stop it.

Know yourself well enough to know the difference.

Because I promise you, something in you is already speaking.

The question is:

Are you speaking so loudly that you can’t hear it?

When it is time for you to be at the table, it will be undeniable.

The table will be there.

The seat will be there.

And it will feel as though it was specially created for you, not because you demanded it, but because everything you did while you were listening prepared you to sit down.

You won’t have to convince anyone.

You won’t have to push anyone aside.

You will simply arrive.

And you’ll know:

This is my time.

Not because you forced the door open.

Because you were ready when it opened.