There's something you're carrying into every meeting.

Maybe it's frustration from a conversation that went sideways weeks ago. Maybe it's resentment toward someone who still hasn't acknowledged what happened. Maybe it's doubt about whether you're even in the right role anymore.

You thought you'd moved past it. But it's still there — in how you hold back, how you react, how you brace yourself before certain people or conversations.

It's not the meeting. It's what you're dragging into it.

And here's the thing most people don't realise: the emotions you carry into a room don't stay with you. They spread.

Research on emotional contagion shows that people "catch" feelings from others. Your frustration becomes the team's tension. Your doubt becomes the room's hesitation. What you're holding onto quietly shapes the culture around you — whether you mean it to or not.

Every organisation has an emotional culture, even if it's one of suppression.

So dealing with what you're carrying isn't ...