Dear Leaders, I know some of you are exhausted, frustrated, and overwhelmed. I know you may be experiencing decision fatigue and the fatigue that comes with processing racial injustices, global/political/economic news, and a pandemic. 2020 isn’t the perfect vision you saw for yourself, your team, or community when you started making plans in 2019.

Some leaders may have had to lean into coaching skills to support and encourage their staff and work communities. Some have had difficult conversations as organizations shift priorities and downsize.

Dear leaders, everything is different now. You’re likely different now. The way you lead may be different now. As you navigate different in your context, I offer three words of support:

1. Mourning: the process of acknowledging what is lost and eventually letting go and accepting what remains.
2. Self-Compassion: Make space to listen and care for your physical, spiritual, mental self. Extending empathy and kindness to yourself in the same way you might for those closest to you. Acknowledge what hurts and find healthy ways to respond and support yourself.
3. Wonder: When you’re ready, notice what remains and then start to ask, “What could be?”

Dear Leaders, yes everything is different now, yet you still remain. Please remember to take care of you. You are a gift not only to your loved ones but to those who also thrive under your leadership in the face of all that is new and different.