When Something No Longer Feels Right
– Why Don’t We Still Talk About It?
In many organizations, there is talk about well-being and performance, but the mental aspect of working life – what cannot always be explained or put into words – often receives less attention.
This article focuses on the inner working life and the leadership space that arises when something no longer feels right.
The article is part of our professional work with psychological work environment and well-being, where we deal with working conditions, mental health and sustainable frameworks for task solving.
The article is also part of our professional work with business and leadership development and our perspective on leadership and business, where we work with the interaction between strategy, management and organization in practice.
If you are curious about how these perspectives can be brought into play in your organisation, you are welcome to get in touch for a non-binding dialogue.
There is something we still don’t talk about enough in working life.
Not stress. Not well-being measured in surveys. Not performance.
But the quiet realisation:
That something no longer feels right.
That you are not seen for who you are. That you don’t get the support you need. That you lose direction – without being able to fully explain why.
And perhaps the most challenging thing:
That you can’t even put it into words.
We Have Systems – But Lack Language
Organisations today are well-equipped.
We measure well-being. We talk about psychological safety. We have efforts, tools and models.
Yet something slips through.
Because what goes on inside the individual rarely fits into a model. It is not linear. Not clear. Not fully formulated.
And that is precisely why it is often overlooked – or made less of than it is.
What Cannot Be “Fixed”
We tend to want to solve it.
Optimise. Adjust. Act.
But some of what happens in the mental working life cannot be fixed.
It must be understood.
It requires that we dare to remain in the undecided a little longer. That we dare to ask questions that we do not have answers to. And that we dare to be in conversations where the direction is not given in advance.
Leadership In The Inner Space
This is not just an individual matter.
It is leadership.
Because what do we do as leaders when an employee cannot explain what is wrong – but clearly feels that something is?
When it is not about skills or performance – but about meaning, direction and identity?
That requires a different kind of leadership space.
A space where we not only lead by the visible – but also dare to enter into that which has not yet been given language.
Perhaps This Is the Most Difficult Task
Not because it is complex. But because it demands something of us as humans.
That we do not always have the answers. That we cannot control the process. And that we ourselves must stand in the undecided together with others.
So The Question Is:
Why is it still so difficult to talk about what is not working – before it becomes a problem that we have to act on?