In a hostile meeting room, there was someone who fought for me alone

That person is now my comrade-in-arms

My finger trembled as I pressed the play button

A message arrived from the client's representative.

Honestly, given the current situation, I can't even get people internally to listen.

Following that, an audio file was sent. It was followed by this text.

Perhaps this shouldn't be shared externally.
But I want you to understand the current reality and the severity of it.

I couldn't move for a while as I stared at the screen.
My finger trembled as I pressed the play button.

When I played it, it contained the raw voices of the professionals on the front lines.

If I have to use that, I'd rather quit my job.
You can't buy risk with money.

I didn't feel anger.
It might have been easier if I could have felt angry.

All I felt was a deep sense of shame for ourselves.

They were fighting for us alone in the face of a headwind

There is something I learned later.
That representative, on that day,
in a meeting room filled with a harsh atmosphere toward us,
was fighting for us all alone.

That person worked at one of the leading companies in the industry in Japan.

Within that company,
they had influence.
They had the ability to take action.
They were someone with the power to move those around them.

Such a person,
while the organizational sentiment was leaning toward 'NO',
was acting on our behalf.

They were not someone from our own company.

They had no obligation to protect us.
They had no reason to defend us.
They had no guarantee of any benefit.

Even so, that person kept asking questions in the meeting room.

Is that criticism just about a partial failure?
Or is the entire structure in danger?

They were trying to see the truth.

Instead of words that were convenient for us,
they were trying to deliver a painful reality.

When I learned that fact, something welled up in my chest.

Apology.
Gratitude.

And a feeling that I absolutely had to respond.

It all came rushing in at once.
Before I knew it, I was crying on the train.
It was a crowded car during my commute.

I hadn't intended to cry in a place like that.
But I couldn't stop.

---

How to accept a harsh reality

When I heard that audio,
I could clearly see where we stood.

It wasn't just that we weren't being evaluated.
We weren't being trusted.

We weren't chosen.
We weren't expected to succeed.
In fact, we were seen as a risk.

It was tough.
But at the same time, I thought:

This is a reality I wouldn't have understood if it hadn't been shown to me.

No matter how much we discussed it internally,
if we only gathered words that were convenient for us,
we never would have reached this point.
It was harsh criticism.

But within that harshness,
there was the resolve of someone who was truly facing us.

That was when I finally understood.

The people who help you
do not always bring kind words.

In fact,
the person who brings you the harshest reality
is sometimes the one who is looking out for you the most.

Putting resolve into words

After calming down a little, I sent a reply to that person.

“I knew you were fighting for us in that meeting.
Thank you so much.”

“I was shocked at first.
But now, I am grateful that I learned our true standing.”

“I believe it is my role to regain trust from here on out.”

That is what I wrote.

I had no intention of glossing things over with pretty words.
I had no intention of making excuses.

I just wanted to respond to the reality I received
without running away.

After sending this reply,
I felt that the distance between that person and me had changed slightly.

The side that dealt the harsh reality,
and the side that accepted it head-on.

I think it was a moment where we faced each other
not just with words, but with resolve.

---

When the inside closed its eyes, the outside kept its eyes open

Normally, this was a reality we should have seen within the company.

But we were not being watched.

What our evaluation had become.
How we were being seen by the market.
How much of an unsettling presence we had become to the other party.

We had not been able to face that directly.

When the inside had closed its eyes,
that person on the outside had kept their eyes open for us.

This was truly significant.

People who tell you harsh things are scary.
If possible, you do not want to hear them.
If possible, you want to avoid them.
If possible, you want to hear only the things that are convenient for you.

However, a company that continues to do that will fall apart.

A company that ignores reality will be crushed by reality.

That is precisely why,
the question is whether you can accept reality without fearing the pain.

That is where the entrance to reconstruction lies.

---

I had no work, yet an invitation arrived

Even after some time had passed since then,
we still hadn't received any work as a company.

We didn't even have a place
where we could say, "We'll show you with our track record."

But,
that person invited us to an important event.

"First of all, I want you to come and see our site."

That's what they said.
The site I saw from the audience seats was perfect.

It was a site run by true professionals,
created by one of the industry's leading companies.

The preparation.
The atmosphere.
The movement of the people.
The speed of decision-making.
The tension.
The overall level of perfection.

Everything was different.

The distance between them and us right now
was shown to us with cruel clarity.

But, strangely enough, I didn't just feel depressed.

Rather,
a feeling more pure than anything I'd felt before was born.

Someday, I will definitely stand right next to them

That's what I thought.

What that person showed me was,
not a business opportunity.

It was a standard.

---

Trust and bonds are different things

In business, there is trust and there are bonds.

Trust is built up through track records and numbers.

Meeting deadlines.
Maintaining quality.
Keeping promises.
Delivering results.

These pile up to become trust.
But bonds are a little different.

Bonds are hard to form when things are going smoothly.

I believe they are quietly born
when you are at rock bottom,
sharing a harsh reality,
and seeing each other's resolve.

That person didn't give me kind words.
In fact, they handed me a very harsh reality.

But the person handing it over also had resolve.
I, too, was being asked if I had the resolve to accept it.

In that moment,
a relationship beyond just a business partner was born.

Now, that person has become a comrade-in-arms to me.

---

Comrade-in-arms

A comrade-in-arms is not someone you have just spent a long time with.

It is someone who did not run away from the same reality,
who saw the same pain,
and yet still tried to move forward.

Someone who gives you kind words is not necessarily an ally.

There are people who will face the painful reality,
and deliver it to you without running away.

At that time, what I needed was not comfort.

It was reality.

And there was someone who delivered that reality to me.
That person has now become my comrade-in-arms.

There is no work contract yet.
There is no track record yet either.

Even so, there is something that can only be understood by those who have been through the fire,
and it is certainly there.

Someday, we will stand back-to-back and run the site again.

Until I fulfill that promise,
I have no intention of taking a single step back.

---

Accepting a harsh reality.
Regaining trust from that point on.

I wrote about how I created a strategy after the company fell apart here.

"Because I didn't die, I was able to create a strategy"

And if you are interested in the relationships that are born in the midst of a crisis, please follow me.

If something resonates with you,
it would be encouraging if you could leave a like.