On Rest and Leadership

I am a writer by nature. It’s how I process and heal and ideate. I also haven’t written anything truly reflective since our world was changed dramatically by the COVID-19 pandemic. I think it’s because of a multitude of reasons but mostly because all of my energy has been focused on day-to-day life which has been harder than ever. We are not well right now and organizations are fraying. 

It also feels self-indulgent as a privileged White woman working in philanthropy to admit how tired I am and how hard life is these days. I know it doesn’t compare to what many of our incredible, largely Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders have done to support community members during the pandemic and with the long-standing trauma from racism. 

We’ve heard about it in many conversations and we hear you. We know you all are also exhausted by the heavy work. I was inspired by the out of office messages I saw at the end of the year where offices were closed for two-weeks to make space for rest. I also saw an increase in  messages this past year from leaders who were taking month-long sabbatical leaves knowing that they are in this work for the long haul and the only way to do this is to rest. 

While I’m happy to see our leaders making space for rest, I’m also sad to witness folks departing from positions of leadership because of the weariness and a need to heal. I see the work taking a lot out of our leaders. We witnessed more tears and pain in our partner calls than ever before. It broke my heart just simply bearing witness. 

In December of 2021, the Julian Grace Foundation offered an opportunity to our partners to engage in a racial healing circle with Truth, Healing and Transformation Chicago (TRHT).  We heard how powerful that space was to pause and share and connect. One particular person’s response in our feedback session stands out in my mind. They shared that they weren’t going to come because there was too much work to do, and they were tired, but they showed up and it was just what they needed for themselves as a person. We forget to make time to be human and connect with other humans. 

As we started 2022 we also provided space to heal with workshops on resilience and caring for stress and burnout with Kiara Lee. We encourage you to share those tools with your organizations and make space for healing and care. I encourage everyone to prioritize rest as a critical part of the work; to make space for healing; to prioritize moments to pause and connect with our fellow humans; to prioritize relationships and love. 

The challenges are real and change takes a long time. Please make space for rest and care and if we can do more to support you in this movement toward rest and healing, please reach out to us.