Leaders have bad days. The good ones just don’t make everyone else pay the bill for them.

Everybody has days where they have nothing, and that is not something to fix or hide. The only question is where it lands. A bad mood released into a group becomes five people’s bad afternoon, paid for by people who had nothing to do with it. Managing the spill is not the same as pretending, it is just not handing the bill to somebody else.

When you can feel it this week, say plainly that today is rough and you are not at your best. That one sentence stops people inventing reasons. Then keep your replies short and kind rather than sharp, and deal with the cause somewhere else.