When Competence Keeps a Broken System Looking Fine

I was very good at making things work.

Looking back, that wasn't always a good thing.

In The Breaking Point, I look honestly at what I absorbed and what I normalized, including how my own ability to make things work sometimes allowed unhealthy patterns to continue.

The same names came up when something needed fixing. The same shoulders absorbed disruption so others could keep moving. I was often one of them. What I see now is how often my adaptability compensated for environments that were misaligned, under-resourced, or unwilling to slow down long enough to redesign.

High performers look for the fix. If something isn't working, we work harder, build a workaround, cover the gap.

That instinct is useful. It can also make a dysfunctional environment look functional from the outside. And when unhealthy behavior becomes normal, clarity erodes quietly. You start questioning yourself before you question the situation.

That's the heart of Book 6, You're Not Imagining It: toxic workplaces, gaslighting, distorted accountability, favoritism, and the systems that let unhealthy behavior continue. It's about naming what's happening and trusting what you're seeing.

For leaders, the question I keep coming back to is this:

Is your care changing a difficult environment, or simply containing its consequences?

Clarity is power. Sometimes it starts with admitting you're not imagining it.

Where have you seen someone's competence keep a broken system looking fine?

#leadership #workplaceculture #toxicworkplace #highperformers #musingsofarecoveringexecutive