Written By: Lauren Howard
It doesn’t matter if you mean well.
You still did it.
It’s not the intention. It’s the impact.
The idea of “positive intent” has permeated workplace culture for who knows how long. You’re supposed to give someone the benefit of their unspoken intentions rather than take them at the actual outcomes of what they did or said.
Yeah, no thanks.
The actual outcome is that powerful people get the benefit of the doubt while the harmed get to do the emotional labor of figuring out what was meant and normalizing what actually happened.
The onus ends up on the harmed to win a gold medal in mental gymnastics, and they rarely get a resolution to their concerns because they did all the work for the person who created the situation.
Your intent is not relevant. Your impact is. You don’t get credit for what went on in your head unless you’re employed by the psychic workshop.
Outside of that . . . Nope.
Founder & CEO at elletwo
Comments