It wasn’t a shout.
It was a small jab.
But the whole room felt it.
I was sitting in a product development meeting.
A room full of managers
people I respect.
Smart, committed, doing great work.
And then, between one discussion and the next,
came that comment.
It wasn’t loud.
It didn’t sound angry.
It wasn’t dramatic.
Just a jab
like a drop of acid in a cup of coffee.
Everyone went silent.
We moved on.
But inside, I knew it hadn’t passed.
Because when you’re the CEO,
you learn to recognize the silence that comes from being hurt.
So after the meeting,
I pulled him aside.
I told him:
“That doesn’t fly here. Not with me. Not in this company.”
His reaction?
No pushback.
No ego.
Just quiet listening.
And from that day forward, it never happened again.
Something in the tone, the attitude, the team dynamic
shifted.
Here’s my take:
Organizational culture isn’t built in slide decks.
It’s built in the little comments everyone hears,
and in the moment they turn to see if you’ll respond.
As a CEO, you don’t get to choose whether you notice.
You choose whether you act.
And that choice
to respond or not
is what shapes the culture.
Heart of Management 
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