Outsmart Chaos 106: They Were Stolen

The lessons in small disruptions

What Two Missing Markers Taught Me About Leadership

Leadership shows itself when disruption tests your character.

It sounds small and indeed laughable. But the theft of two dry-erase markers from my office taught me more than I expected about safety, trust, and leadership.

Photo by Hitomi Bremmer on Unsplash

The Disruption

It was late on a Friday. I was tired, ready to close the week, and wanted to sketch one last diagram to clear my head and prepare for the week ahead.

Midway through, I reached for a specific marker, the one that could add the final detail to set me up for success on Monday.

It wasn’t there.

Neither was another one.

Two of the six or eight markers that had been sitting on the ledge of my whiteboard were gone. Vanished.

Not misplaced.

Taken.

The space I thought was mine, my office, my corner of predictability, had been disrupted.

By someone’s choice.

Now, these particular markers weren’t special, maybe worth 2 dollars. I had purchased on my own - not corporate money…but even if it was corporate money, the lesson remained the same.

The Lesson

At first, it felt petty. Why would someone take something so small? Why did it bother me so much?

Then I realized the lesson that was in front of me.

The theft of two markers was trivial in cost. It is not even worth commenting on.

It is, however, revealing in lessons of clarity.

• I can’t control the actions of others.

• But I can control my own response,

• and that matters far more than the markers themselves.

The Shift

Yes, the markers were gone. But the moment gave something back: perspective.

1. Clarity that my leadership, my integrity, and my presence can’t depend on others behaving the way I wish they would.

2. Clarity that strength isn’t measured in what’s taken, but in what you choose to protect in yourself.

3. Clarity that chaos, no matter how small or strange its form, always tests who you’ll become on the other side.

Your leadership is by example. Your integrity is modeled in the small things, both those choices you make and the response to small tests that come your way.

There’s a good chance that the person who “borrowed” my markers will not think twice about it. They may even think they were entitled to them because we were in a corporate space…and all things there were “our” stuff. Yet this simple act sent a message about leadership, respect, safety, and integrity.

Leadership shows itself in the minor actions that few will notice.

Reflection and Challenge

Markers can be taken. Trust can be broken. But your integrity? That’s untouchable.

Where in your life are you letting someone else’s actions define who you are becoming?

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This is your reminder that leadership lessons don’t always come from big crises. Sometimes, it’s the smallest disruptions that reveal the most about who we are and who we want to be.