When a young woman struggling with self-worth in a hybrid workplace reached out to Ankur Warikoo, she probably expected some gentle career advice. Instead, she got a wake-up call—one that thousands are now applauding online for its honesty, empathy, and razor-sharp insight. Her email laid bare what many introverts silently battle at work: discomfort in social settings, fear of pushing back, and a deep-seated belief that being “quiet” equals being overlooked. Warikoo’s reply didn’t sugarcoat it—and maybe that’s exactly what the modern workforce needs.
In her message, the woman explained how a shift from fully remote to hybrid work had rattled her confidence. Surrounded by colleagues, she began feeling overly conscious, especially when seniors started treating her like a pushover—assigning arbitrary deadlines and putting her under pressure. She described herself as introverted, often feeling inferior in meetings and hesitant to assert herself, all in the name of “respect.” But Warikoo’s response reframed her dilemma completely.
Warikoo's response
“You’re not broken,” he wrote. “But you are stuck in a story that no longer serves you.”
Warikoo clarified that introversion wasn’t the real issue. What she was experiencing was avoidance, born from self-doubt masked as personality. She wasn’t quiet by nature—she was holding back out of fear that she wasn’t “enough.” Using a powerful metaphor, he added, “Nobody ever learned how to swim by standing on the shore and watching others talk about the ocean.” His point? Growth comes from engagement, not perfection. The only way to build confidence is by stepping into the discomfort and taking action—however small.
In the workplace, her reluctance to challenge authority stemmed from a desire to remain polite. But Warikoo cut through that illusion too: “Being assertive is not being disrespectful. And being silent is not being respectful—it’s being invisible.”
He urged her, and by extension, everyone struggling with this, to stop apologizing for not knowing enough. Instead, he encouraged scripting firm but respectful responses like, “I understand the urgency, but I’ll need until X to do this well.” Warikoo’s message wasn’t just advice—it was a blueprint to unlearn self-sabotaging behaviour. He closed with a powerful reminder: “This version of you—the quiet one who makes herself smaller—is a story that needs to stop. Time to write a better one.”
In a time where workplace culture is still learning how to accommodate different personalities, Warikoo’s post is a timely reminder that change doesn’t always start with the system. Sometimes, it starts with rewriting your own story.
In her message, the woman explained how a shift from fully remote to hybrid work had rattled her confidence. Surrounded by colleagues, she began feeling overly conscious, especially when seniors started treating her like a pushover—assigning arbitrary deadlines and putting her under pressure. She described herself as introverted, often feeling inferior in meetings and hesitant to assert herself, all in the name of “respect.” But Warikoo’s response reframed her dilemma completely.
Warikoo's response
“You’re not broken,” he wrote. “But you are stuck in a story that no longer serves you.”
Warikoo clarified that introversion wasn’t the real issue. What she was experiencing was avoidance, born from self-doubt masked as personality. She wasn’t quiet by nature—she was holding back out of fear that she wasn’t “enough.” Using a powerful metaphor, he added, “Nobody ever learned how to swim by standing on the shore and watching others talk about the ocean.” His point? Growth comes from engagement, not perfection. The only way to build confidence is by stepping into the discomfort and taking action—however small.
In the workplace, her reluctance to challenge authority stemmed from a desire to remain polite. But Warikoo cut through that illusion too: “Being assertive is not being disrespectful. And being silent is not being respectful—it’s being invisible.”
He urged her, and by extension, everyone struggling with this, to stop apologizing for not knowing enough. Instead, he encouraged scripting firm but respectful responses like, “I understand the urgency, but I’ll need until X to do this well.” Warikoo’s message wasn’t just advice—it was a blueprint to unlearn self-sabotaging behaviour. He closed with a powerful reminder: “This version of you—the quiet one who makes herself smaller—is a story that needs to stop. Time to write a better one.”
In a time where workplace culture is still learning how to accommodate different personalities, Warikoo’s post is a timely reminder that change doesn’t always start with the system. Sometimes, it starts with rewriting your own story.
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