The Wreckoning
When I look back at my career and picture the leaders I would follow by choice, I don’t just think about what they accomplished. I think about how they made people feel, whether they challenged us, and if they left things better than they found them. Those traits are essential. But one quality stands above the rest: how do they lead when everything goes wrong?
The ability to respond effectively, with genuine compassion, the moment disaster strikes is what separates a mere manager from a true leader. Yet, the real test isn't just surviving the immediate crisis; it’s how you handle the inevitable reckoning that follows. The reckoning is that moment when a leader's past actions are weighed by others, triggering future consequences. It doesn't just come from major catastrophes either; it accumulates daily from mundane, everyday behaviours. Simply put: our actions today dictate our leadership consequences tomorrow. And that reality becomes hyper-visible when the pressure is on.
Let's be honest: leaders wreck things. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident. They have to clean up wreckage left by others (co-workers, supervisors, or subordinates) and manage the collateral damage of random, external events. Through all of it, a reckoning awaits the person in charge. Crucially, a reckoning isn't automatically negative just because the wreckage was painful, nor is it guaranteed to be positive just because the disruption was intended to be constructive.
From my first day managing full-time staff to my very last, it felt like 80% of my job was dealing with wreckage. Whether it was handling student behavioural crises in student housing or untangling client confusion on a major workforce project, my days were spent sifting through chaos, charting a course, and following through on hard commitments. On the rare days I wasn't solving problems, it felt like I was creating them. I was restructuring teams, experimenting with new approaches, or trying to build deeper relationships. Every single one of those moves brought disruption, change, or innovation, and every single one brought a reckoning. I was constantly under the microscope, judged by others. Sometimes the judgement was immediate; other times, the receipt wasn't cashed until that person was under duress down the road.
Dealing with wreckage is simply the job description. How you handle it reveals your true measure as a leader. But this dynamic is heavily warped by perspective. As the leader, you are the actor; everyone else is the observer, watching and judging. These two groups experience the wreckage entirely differently. A leader might intentionally dismantle a toxic organizational structure to improve the workplace, viewing their actions as good. The observers, however, might just see chaos and label it bad. In the heart of the change, the tension is thick, but the ultimate reckoning remains hidden.
I remember rolling out a massive, complicated programmatic overhaul that took semesters to fully realize. I did everything by the change-management playbook: co-created a vision, prepped the team, and executed carefully. Most people bought in, and even the skeptics stepped aside. The transition was a success, but looking back, it succeeded because of my prior leadership actions. The reckoning of how I had treated people in the past directly earned me the trust and grace from resisters needed to survive that structural shift.
I’ve also experienced the exact opposite. I once handled a student issue that felt minor through my lens as the actor, but was monumental to the student observing it. I focused strictly on the outcome and failed to show a shred of empathy or compassion. Even though the final result was positive for them, our next informal interaction made the reckoning loud and clear: they were completely unimpressed by me and rightly so. That taught me that perspectives vary wildly, and how we act always ripples into future interactions and decisions. Over time, I shifted my metric of success away from pure outcomes and toward the health of relationships. I stopped viewing problems as isolated, "today-only" events, recognizing them as the foundation for future, unknown collaborations. Today’s work creates ripples that extend far beyond the moment and the room.
So, how do you ensure your future reckoning is positive, even when today's choices are painful?
First, accept that great leadership requires wreckage. Exceptional leaders break, change, innovate, and build. To lead is to transform: yourself, your organization, and your community. Transformation inherently leaves wreckage, and that wreckage has long-term consequences that workplaces often struggle to anticipate.
Second, understand that today’s actions have unknown future costs. Great leaders act with courage and integrity, choosing what is right over what is easy. They don’t just broadcast their virtues; they demonstrate them daily so others can interpret them authentically. For example, if a reorganization requires layoffs, a leader shouldn't loudly declare that they are maintaining "dignity and respect." Let those impacted judge the dignity of the process through your actual behaviour. Virtue signalling brings a reckoning of mistrust and disengagement; true integrity yields a reckoning of trust and engagement, regardless of the outcome of the initial event.
Third, put service above self. Manage wreckage by maximizing benefits or minimizing harm to others, rather than trying to look good. The easy path is attention modulation: managing personal PR to maximize praise or deflect blame. Leading through a lens of genuine human impact gives your team agency over the meaning of your decisions. Attention-seeking behaviours trigger a reckoning of confusion, inefficiency, and stalled innovation. Service behaviours earn a reckoning of psychological safety and consensus. This, too, happens regardless of the immediate outcome of the initial event.
Wreckage is a daily reality of leadership. But great leaders possess the ability to turn that wreckage—no matter where it came from—into a future triumph for their teams. They recognize that their current actions echo far beyond their own perception, and they choose integrity and service in the present. Those choices build a positive reckoning, giving leaders and their followers the resilience, agility, and trust needed to survive the next wave of wreckage.
The wreckage is guaranteed. What are you doing today to prepare for the Wreckoning coming your way?
