Many capable, thoughtful leaders feel exhausted—not because they lack skill or resilience, but because they’ve been carrying systems that were never designed to care for them.
This free 2-hour live webinar is for healthcare professionals and mission-driven leaders who feel the quiet tension between who they are and what their roles demand. Together, we’ll explore what Brave Leadership looks like in real life—not as hustle, productivity, or martyrdom, but as presence, discernment, and agency.
You’ll learn how to:
This session is reflective, grounded, and practical. You won’t be asked to fix yourself or make drastic life changes. Instead, you’ll leave with clarity, language, and a next right step—supported by the understanding that you don’t have to do this alone.
This is:
This is not:
(There will be an invitation at the end for those who want deeper support—but only after you’ve received real value.)
Theme: You are not broken.
Opening (Your Voice): “Welcome. Before we begin, I want to name something: If you’re here, you probably feel exhausted. Not because you lack skill or resilience, but because you’ve been carrying systems that were never designed to care for you.”
“You got into healthcare to heal. But somewhere along the way, the work started costing you pieces of yourself—your compassion, your calling, maybe even your belief that you can make a difference.”
“Today, we’re going to name what this is costing, get clear on what’s actually yours to carry, and identify one small, brave choice that lets you stay in the work without abandoning yourself.”
Grounding Practice (3-5 minutes):
“Let’s start by settling. Place your hand on your heart or your belly. Take three deep breaths with me. You don’t have to be ‘on’ right now. You can just be here.”
Framing Brave Leadership:
“Brave leadership isn’t about doing more or pushing harder. It’s about showing up with integrity—even in systems that make that hard.”
Theme: Understanding the water we’re swimming in.
Teaching Moment: “Modern systems reward over-functioning, silence, and self-abandonment. They were designed for efficiency, not humanity. And when we burn out, the system often tells us it’s a personal problem—that we need better self-care, better boundaries, better resilience.”
“But burnout isn’t a personal failure. It’s a signal. It’s your body saying: This is costing me more than it should.”
How Systems Demand Adaptation:
Reflection Question (Ask them to consider silently):
“Where have I adapted to survive rather than lead?”
Theme: Recognizing cost when you’re triggered.
The Setup: “Here’s what happens in a system where life and death are on the line: Your nervous system learns to treat everything like an emergency. An email. A meeting request. A policy change. Your body can’t always tell the difference between a code blue and a bureaucratic fire drill.”
“And here’s the cost: When we’re constantly in that amped-up state, we lose access to discernment. We push through when we shouldn’t. We react instead of respond. And we disrupt the people who are actually touching patients—the ones doing the real, urgent work.”
“If you’ve ever felt yourself about to send that reactive email, or push through exhaustion to get one more thing done, or show up to a meeting in fight-or-flight mode… this is for you.”
The Physiology of ‘Everything Is Urgent’:
Normalize the Experience: “How many of you have felt your heart racing over something that, logically, you know isn’t an actual emergency—but your body doesn’t believe you?” [Pause for acknowledgment — nods, chat responses, raised hands]
“I want to give you a tool that’s so simple it might feel too small to matter. But I promise you—this pause is brave leadership. It’s the difference between reacting from a triggered state and responding from your integrity.”
“It’s called Pause Before Push. And it works like this:”
Before you push:
Pause. Three seconds. And ask yourself one question:
The Three Questions (Choose One That Fits the Moment):
Why This Matters — Example Scenarios:
The Email Example:
“You’re about to fire off an email that feels urgent. You pause. You realize: my urgency isn’t about the issue—it’s about my frustration with a system that keeps creating these fires. If I send this now, I’m just passing my dysregulation down the chain. The person who receives it will feel it. And if they’re on the floor with patients, I’ve just added to their load.” “So instead, you take three breaths. You save the draft. You come back to it in an hour—and the email you send is clear, calm, and actually useful.”
The Morning Commute:
“You’re sitting in your car, hand on the ignition, dreading the day. You pause. You ask: Am I about to push through something that needs my attention? And you realize: I didn’t sleep. I haven’t eaten. I’m running on fumes.” “That pause gives you a choice. Maybe you stop for coffee. Maybe you send a text saying you’ll be 10 minutes late. Maybe you just name it: Today is hard, and I’m going to need to pace myself. That’s not weakness. That’s leadership.”
The Honoring Language (Critical for Healthcare Culture):
“When you’re in a leadership or administrative role, every decision you make ripples to the people who are actually with patients. If you’re operating from a triggered state—if you’re treating every email like a code, every meeting like a crisis—you’re disrupting the people who need to stay calm and present for actual life-or-death moments.”
“Pausing before you push is an act of respect. It says: I will not make your job harder because I haven’t tended to my own state. It says: I honor the real urgency of your work by not flooding you with false urgency.”
Guided Practice (Live in the Webinar):
“Let’s try this together. Right now, I want you to think of something on your to-do list that feels urgent—something you’ve been pushing toward, something that’s making your shoulders tight just thinking about it.” “Now, put your hand on your chest or your belly. Take three breaths.” “Ask yourself: Is this actually urgent, or does it just feel urgent?” “Notice what comes up. You don’t have to fix it. Just notice.” [60 seconds of silence]
“What did you notice? For some of you, the urgency might have softened. For others, you might have realized, Yes, this IS urgent—but I need to approach it differently. Both are useful.”
Theme: From endurance to discernment.
“We’ve named the system. We’ve practiced recognizing when we’re triggered. Now, I want to give you a framework for what comes next—not as another thing to do, but as a way of thinking about how you lead from here.”
Naming what systems demand of our humanity Not just exhaustion, but the hidden costs: your compassion, your calling, your ability to show up authentically. This is about making visible what systems train us to ignore.
The shift:
From “I should be able to handle this” → “This is costing me more than just exhaustion—it’s costing me my why.”
Guiding question:
“Where am I leaking the very qualities that brought me to this work?”
Discernment between responsibility and over-responsibility Distinguishing between structural problems (the system’s dysfunction) and your capacity (what you can change). Separating what’s essential from what’s compliance theater. Reconnecting to your original purpose.
The shift:
From “I have to do it all” → “I can choose what’s mine—and trust others with the rest.”
Guiding question:
“What am I carrying that belongs to the system, not to me?”
Alignment through small, integrity-preserving actions Small, specific choices that reduce the cost to your integrity—even within systems that won’t change. Reframing boundaries as leadership practice. Recognizing that small, brave choices ripple: “When one leader heals, a team changes.”
The shift:
From “Nothing will change” → “I can make one choice that honors me today.”
Guiding question:
“What one choice would let me stay in this work without abandoning myself?”
“Now we’re going to spend time with these questions. I’ll guide you through each part of the framework. You can journal, you can just sit with the questions, or you can share in the chat if that feels right. There are no wrong answers here.”
Cost Reflection (5 minutes):
[Silent reflection time. Optional: play soft instrumental music]
Clarity Reflection (5 minutes):
[Silent reflection time]
Choice Reflection (5 minutes):
[Silent reflection time]
Theme: Boundaries keep you in the work—without losing yourself.
Reframing Boundaries: “When we hear ‘boundaries,’ many of us hear ‘selfish.’ But here’s the truth: Boundaries are how you stay present. They’re how you protect your capacity to care. They’re not about withdrawing—they’re about sustainable leadership.”
Boundaries as:
“Before you say yes to something, ask: Will this yes cost me my integrity? Before you say no, ask: Will this no bring relief, or just create more conflict inside me?”
Guided Reflection:
[5 minutes of reflection. Invite optional sharing in chat.]
Theme: Small, brave shifts matter.
“We’ve covered a lot today. Before we close, I want you to name three things for yourself—not to share, just to anchor what you’re taking with you.”
Three Questions to Close:
[10 minutes: Quiet reflection. Gentle music. Spacious, unhurried.]
“Change starts small—like a seed. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to take the next right step.”
Theme: Support is not weakness.
“Before we close, I want to offer you something. If what we explored today resonated—if you felt something shift, even a little—I’d love to support you in going deeper.”
The Invitation:
“This is an invitation, not a sales pitch. If it’s not right for you, that’s completely okay. What matters is that you take what served you today and you use it.”
Closing:
“Thank you for being here. Thank you for doing this work—for showing up, for being honest, for caring enough to stay in it. You are not broken. And you don’t have to do this alone.”
A Brave Leadership Practice
Before you push the keyboard, the button, the door… pause. Three seconds.
Ask One Question:
Remember:
This isn’t weakness. This is leadership.
