The Heated Discussion

At some point, accumulated tension found its way into a heated discussion with Kylie.

The termination letter would later refer to that exchange.

I do not need to pretend I was emotionless in every workplace conversation to defend the substance of what I was trying to do.

I can be direct.

When I believe something matters, I push.

And when I believe I am being held accountable for an outcome without being given the authority or support required to achieve it, frustration can show.

With hindsight, there are always conversations a leader can handle differently.

I accept that.

The important question is context.

By the time of that discussion, I had already raised concerns about staff relationships, role ambiguity and Board support over a period of weeks.

I believed I was accountable for leading an inherited team while the Board had not adequately resolved the authority and behavioural issues I had been escalating.

Others may remember those conversations differently.

That is fair.

But the exchange should not be treated as though it appeared from nowhere.

It belonged to a longer pattern of unresolved tension around what the CEO role actually controlled and how the new structure was supposed to work.

Leadership is not proven by never becoming frustrated.

It is proven by whether the underlying issue is legitimate, whether the leader is prepared to reflect on their own conduct and whether the organisation has mechanisms to resolve conflict before it becomes terminal.

I believed those mechanisms existed on paper.

I was less convinced they existed in practice.