How to stop being the person everyone vents to

There's a queue that forms at your desk that you never advertised for. People bring you the impossible manager, the credit someone took, the meeting that went sideways, and you take it all in because you're the one who listens without making anyone feel small. The trouble is what it costs you. You leave most days wrung out, carrying conversations that were never yours to begin with, while your own work and your own worries sit waiting.

This episode of Career Espresso is about how you became the office's unofficial support service, why it falls to women so reliably, and how to stay the warm, trusted one without taking everybody's bad day home with you.

What you'll discover

• Why being brilliant to talk to quietly turns into unpaid work, and why being good at it tends to make things worse rather than better
• The reason "just set boundaries" is hollow advice for genuinely kind people, and what to reach for instead
• The one question that lets you be completely there for someone without picking up their problem and carrying it
• How to handle the person who's turned you into a daily service, without a big awkward confrontation

Perfect for women who are the ones everyone leans on at work, who leave most days carrying other people's weather, and who'd like to stay kind without running on empty.

Want more support with real-world leadership challenges? Head to How to Build a Leader on Substack for in-depth guides and scripts.

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