You are safe. You belong.
Person leaping across a gap between two rocks
6 November, 2024 - US Presidential election results day
Let’s respect the fact that some people will feel even less safe and more isolated today than yesterday. Whether American or not. Humanity is a complex connected system, as is the ecosystem upon which all life depends.
Some may come to work to forget the world outside, some come to pronounce loudly that the rest of the world are idiots, others don’t have the luxury to do either. When some are less safe and more isolated, we are all worse off. Even in our work.
To face this - and face this we must - we need connection and empathy, and everyday, like making bread, we need to re-create the space for safety and belonging.
I would like to put my head in the sand and just focus on getting some income back after months of insecurity but I can’t live in this world without my work making sense in it.
I see you too, your future, like mine, as a leader of an organisation thriving in the storms of the 21st century - not just by ignoring them but by embracing them. Respecting and connecting with people who are effected by them at work and in our partnerships.
One thing I learned from working in crisis response organisation - both sudden and protracted crises - was the importance of humanity and connection - relationships - in the work, as the work. So many well intentioned interventions have failed, like a shit sideshow attraction leaving town, because no one bothered to make connections first. As a neurodivergent person, that was a hard lesson to learn but I did. I would’ve rather just done my spreadsheet/ tech wizardry in a corner and chat to people only about good things.
But I have learnt how important listening is and painfully have learnt how to do it. My brain can make factual connections about the state of the world like I’m a satellite looking down, but it’s painful to be in a room with the reality of conflict and misunderstandings. And yet, part of that conflict and misunderstanding is my own or at least what I represent in that room - especially at times when I have been a person of comparative privilege and power, as much as I might like to deny that. My feelings of the pain of that conflict is also valid and my voice can be heard. Once I have been honest and open, I have been wonderfully supported including by people who I thought I was there to support, I hadn’t realised until then that it was mutual. I was more comfortable in the equality and inequality of our relationship.
If this resonates with you, I would like to give you a bucket of courage right now to get down from your global viewpoint and connect with people around you, creating a safe space for them and for yourself to speak. You are safe. You belong.
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Becky is a Founder & Facilitator, offering leaders support relating with their team including consulting/ coaching over Winter and Team with Nature days in Summer - a chance to reconnect with your team, with the help of nature - more info at https://sandkind.uk