I once worked in an interim management position for a Senior Manager called Simon. The word I most associate with him is "sharp". He was very intelligent, quick thinking, and quick witted too—we shared many laughs together. He also was quite forthright with his opinions and could be quite blunt at times. These are all positive traits for management, except for one day when a comment he made just felt wrong. We were in a department tactics meeting with the rest of his first line; about six managers in total. I stated a view that must have been too controversial and he snapped quite quickly at me in front of the group. I felt embarrassed and didn't say much for the rest of the discussion. He didn't bring it up again, but it ate away at me inside.

This highlights a particular challenge in the workplace around maintaining your own self-esteem and status; sometimes people more senior than you will make comments that you won't want to respond to in the way that you would do if the conversation...