Compassion is one thing, the work arrangement is another. The flexibility had quietly turned into an open-ended pass.
Strangely, once you've granted some accommodation, taking it back can make you the hesitant one — as if the positions had reversed.
Here, it should have been nothing more than the manager extending goodwill, yet at some point it grew past a right taken for granted and started to feel almost like an obligation owed. What began as goodwill from the manager — and by extension, from the team — had quietly become something the team was left to carry.
Intent matters, but impact still counts more.
Compassion is one thing, the work arrangement is another. The flexibility had quietly turned into an open-ended pass.
Strangely, once you've granted some accommodation, taking it back can make you the hesitant one — as if the positions had reversed.
Here, it should have been nothing more than the manager extending goodwill, yet at some point it grew past a right taken for granted and started to feel almost like an obligation owed. What began as goodwill from the manager — and by extension, from the team — had quietly become something the team was left to carry.
Indeed. There’s a fine line between an exception made and the very same feeling due.
Here the line was definitely crossed!
Yet, as it is often the case, “crossed” is something you notice far later than when it actually happens.