Everyone's Just Trying to Survive

Some people just have to navigate survival, and everything else is secondary.

When I was working in Dubai, I had to roll out updated goals for the back half of the year. The goals were big, and salespeople's compensation is dependent upon their ability to achieve them. I was concerned about the backlash I was going to receive.

The moment in time came and went. No HR complaints. Nobody booked a meeting with me to present ten reasons why this was a bad plan. The sales team didn't even give me dirty looks. They just went about their day as if nothing had happened. I was confused.

In the States, I would have had to deal with weeks' worth of fallout and distractions. But in Dubai, where I had 40+ nationalities in my organization, nobody said a word. So I asked one of my leaders what was going on.

Her response: "The team cares way more about their visas in the country than revised goals or any other annoyances with their job, so they stay focused on what they need to do to succeed."

It made sense. Some of these people had come from war-torn environments, their parents had escaped almost third-world countries, and a few had fled situations so dangerous that a privileged American like me couldn't even fathom the thought. So why sit around and complain when the name of the game was survival?

The truth is, no matter your background, we're all just trying to survive each and every day. Life is hard. Your job is hard. If you have kids and a family to take care of, that is hard. The list goes on.

It brings me to two conclusions. First, we all need to give everyone a little more grace. We're so quick to judge and short on patience that we forget everyone is fighting a battle to survive every single day. Second, our life experiences shape our desires to take risks or stay in our lane. The people who sit back and operate in the shadows are often doing it because they can't afford to take a misstep.

The next time you feel yourself jumping to conclusions about how someone will react, pull back and think about the story they're carrying. Everyone is doing the best they can with whatever they're dealing with right now.