The importance of sharing

Since I decided to finally give myself time to recover, I started sharing more openly about my experience with burnout. Then, something interesting started happening: people began reaching out and opening up, friends, other founders, customers, partners, people I hadn’t spoken to in years.

Almost every conversation had the same pattern: “Since you shared this… I should probably tell you something too.” 

It made me realize that most people are not unwilling to talk about what they’re going through, they need to know that the person they're opening up to will listen with empathetic ears and without judgement. Silence is rarely about indifference, I now feel that it's more about safety.

In many high-performance environments we are trained to project certainty, resilience and control, but behind the scenes, a lot of people are struggling quietly. And the moment someone shares honestly, something shifts and people start speaking. 

Which makes me wonder: what would happen inside companies if sharing became normal instead of exceptional?