The World Record for Getting Stuck in Concrete
It started as a disagreement in the OR. Same colleague. Same dynamic. But now he had a new title. And this time, instead of patching it over before the next case, he sent an email.
What followed was predictable and completely avoidable. Grenades lobbed back and forth. CC'd and BCC'd parties multiplying. The unseen hand of leadership, watching. The CEO eventually stepping in to take it offline. No winner. Both people painted with an unflattering brush that neither fully deserved.
Here is the thing about concrete: once you are standing in it, you are standing in it.
You can still lead effectively if you choose to hold the reins rather than forge new direction. But if your reputation with your boss, your peers, or your team has quietly hardened around a single incident, your options compress.
You can move on. You can move up. Or you can stay, knowing that you are now a known quantity — with whatever associations, fair or not, that come with that.
I have watched smart, capable physician leaders end promising trajectories because of a single email they sent in a moment of frustration. The message was accurate. The grievance was real. The timing and format were catastrophic.
Being right about the substance rarely overcomes being wrong about the delivery.
Before you hit send, ask yourself: am I being right, or am I being effective?