Day 127 - Who Will be In the Trenches with You

February 12, 2026

Episode Theme:
Loyalty, resilience, and the people who stay when things get hard.

Key Topics:

The question that cuts through titles and strategy
What “the trenches” really represent: risk, discomfort, and uncertainty
Why hardship reveals true partnership
The limits of credentials and hype
Who carries pressure instead of redirecting it
Parallels between business, relationships, and personal life
Mutuality: not just who stays with you, but who you stay with
Trust built through shared difficulty
Strengthening bonds through gratitude and recognition

Notable Takeaways:

Hard seasons reveal real alignment.
Loyalty is proven under pressure, not in comfort.
A few people matter more than a crowd.
Partnership is about sharing burden, not just upside.
You must be trench-worthy too, not just selective.

Suggested Reflections:

Who would answer your call when things get ugly?
Who has already walked through something hard with you?
Are you someone others would trust in their own hard season?
What relationship deserves a thank-you today?

Memorable Line (Paraphrase):

“Who stays in the trenches with you tells you more than any résumé ever could.”

Episode Transcript

Guy Reams (00:00.59)
Day 127, who will be in the trenches with you? A small question that tells you everything. This morning I caught myself asking a blunt question. Who would be in the trenches with me when it gets ugly? I was thinking of missed targets, tight cash, late nights, and public criticism. But the picture was simple. Whoever stays then says more about everything else than any resume could. The question that cuts through.

Who will be in the trenches with me? It cuts past strategy, it cuts past titles, it cuts past hype. It goes straight to the loyalty question, to resilience, and to the willingness to share a burden. When things are easy, almost anyone can look like a partner. When things go hard, you find out who actually stays in business. The person who answers the phone at 10 p.m., who holds the mission when you are not in the room, who can bear discomfort without losing alignment.

In startups and transformation work, this matters more than credentials. In relationships, the test is similar. Who shares the downside, not just the upside? Who takes the pressure instead of redirecting it? Who steps forward when risk is real? In personal life, the question becomes who shows up when there is illness, loss, or failure? Who speaks the hard truth? Who stands beside you and refuses to leave when it gets messy?

I the question inward. Trenches imply mud, uncertainty, and sacrifice. That makes the question mutual. Have I built relationships where others would want me to be in the trenches with them? Am I the kind of person they would trust with theirs? It is not enough to find a crowd. You will only need a few. Who stays in the trenches with you tells you more than any resume could. I went back to the moment I started with and let the question just sit there.

plain and stubborn. The next step is small. Name one person who has already gone through something hard and reach out to thank them. That one caller message begins to strengthen the kind of ties that make trenches a mutual thing.