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Stop Tolerating Nonsense: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Speaking Up and Thriving
One of the most liberating lessons I’ve learned in my career is this: learn to call people out. No matter what’s bothering you, addressing it head-on will save you from unnecessary drama and wasted time. More importantly, it will help you remove people and situations from your life that should never have been there in the first place.
As someone with an Italian background, I grew up in a culture that prioritizes pleasing others and avoiding conflict. For years, I carried on tolerating BS in my professional life. But here’s the truth: pleasing people at the expense of your own health is a recipe for frustration and failure.
Let me share a few hard-earned lessons.
The Price of Avoidance
Over the last decade, I tolerated far too much. I stayed silent in situations where I should have spoken up, and that silence came at a cost:
The Colleague with Bad Habits
I once worked with a colleague who had persistently bad breath from chain-smoking. It wasn’t just unpleasant, it became a metaphor for everything else he brought into the workspace: dishonesty, manipulation, and a complete disregard for others. I avoided calling him out because I feared offending him. In hindsight, my silence allowed a toxic presence to linger…
