Holding Space for Layoffs, Firings & Collective Pain in our Organizations
Like many of you, I’ve been feeling the weight of the recent Lapu-Lapu Day Festival tragedy — another wave on top of ongoing ecological, economic, and political instability, including layoffs and restructuring.
As a Queer South Asian healer for leaders, I’m hearing more and more — especially queer, trans, BIPOC, and deeply feeling leaders — about the immense weight they’re carrying. Even in social impact spaces, many are struggling to name, let alone process, the grief, fear, and rage they feel in response to what’s happening in the world and in their own lives.
And they’re seeing it in their teams too — in the form of low capacity, misalignment, fractured relationships, and shrinking confidence. What goes unprocessed doesn’t disappear — it shows up in our energy, our communication, our ability to collaborate, innovate, and lead. I’m hearing again and again:
Self-care isn’t enough. Compartmentalizing isn’t working anymore.
Leaders are feeling foggy, heavy, unmoored.
And they’re asking:
How do we bring what we know about personal transformation into the workplace?
This question has shaped my work over the last several years: helping organizations become ecosystems of care and capacity. I support teams in recognizing that each person is an ecosystem — and that the organization itself is a living system. When we understand this, we see that emotional and energetic health are not side issues. They are central to our ability to function and thrive.
I’ve worked with local, national, and government organizations to build the emotional, relational, and energetic skills that help teams acknowledge and work through what’s rising — stress, emotion, conflict — rather than push it down or ignore it.
These are often overlooked skills in the workplace, typically only learned by those curious enough to learn through personal therapy or relationship workshops — but they are crucial to effective leadership. We’ve created a world where business-as-usual doesn’t require our leaders, managers, or supervisors to be relationally intelligent.
After a decade of working inside many organizations before starting my own practice, I can say with certainty: one of the primary bottlenecks to effectiveness and impact is unaddressed relational dynamics. This isn’t soft stuff — it’s foundational to systems that actually work.
Crucially, we teach these skills in a way that respects people’s capacity and boundaries. No one is forced to overshare or participate in ways that feel unsafe. What we’ve seen is that when a workplace culture allows space for what people are already carrying, even gentle witnessing and presence can be transformative.
Too often, vulnerability in the workplace is still seen as risky, unprofessional, or taboo. What I’ve witnessed is the opposite: when people are given space to show up as they are — without pressure or performance — their capacity grows. So many of our assumptions about what’s “appropriate” at work are inherited, unexamined and outdated — and they’re keeping us from unlocking the full potential of our workplaces as hubs of innovation, meaning, and social impact.
We’re settling for function when we could be shaping culture.
Here’s what this work has looked like:
Emotional processing trainings that allow staff to experience safely releasing what they’re carrying — grief, frustration, constriction - and also learn how to metabolize difficult emotions together and on their own. These tools help keep energy flowing through the team’s ecosystem, rather than bottling up or spilling out sideways.
Brave witnessing and connection spaces where team members can see and feel what others are carrying — often discovering deep parallels. These moments build trust, compassion, and resilience, and directly improve a team’s ability to collaborate and problem-solve.
Developing Resourcing Groups for leaders, designed as internal root systems. These are recurring spaces that allow folks in similar roles to share what they’re navigating, practice somatic and energetic tools, and support one another. These groups reduce burnout, increase cross-pollination, and create real-time problem solving across the organization.
Training somatic and energetic tending, integrated into the rhythm of work so people have accessible ways to feel grounded, and connected — especially in moments of tension or overwhelm.
Relational leadership development, so leaders can tend to their own inner landscape while creating spaciousness for others — without overfunctioning, collapsing, or taking on what isn’t theirs. These skills build capacity and stability across the organization.
Team-wide emotional literacy and communication training, so care isn’t outsourced to a few sensitive staff. Everyone learns to engage skillfully with what’s real — creating a culture of shared responsibility and interdependence.
Support for high-stakes conversations — including feedback, rupture repair, transitions, or conflict — so energy doesn’t get stuck and the system can move forward with clarity and care.
When organizations create space for the truth of what people are carrying — in a way that feels grounded and appropriate for the workplace — leadership strengthens, teams become more cohesive, innovation flows, and real business growth is unlocked.
And the impact ripples outward — into families, communities, and systems beyond the organization’s mission.
We have a rare opportunity: As mission-driven businesses, we can become steady, human-centered anchors in a time of collective instability — not just making impact in our fields, but helping to repair what’s fraying in our world. And we can do it in ways that drive innovation, capacity, and meaningful systems change.
And this isn’t just something we do because times are tough. Even in times of ease, the ability to process, relate, and show up as full human beings is what makes organizations magnetic, adaptive, and effective. Keeping emotional fluency and inner transformation siloed in personal development spaces is a missed opportunity.
Bridging the world of personal transformation and the workplace is not a liability — it’s a profound advantage. The question leaders are asking me — How do we bring what we know about personal transformation into the workplace? — isn’t just a question for now. It’s an invitation into what’s possible when we allow business to be a site of real growth, impact, and humanity.
I am deeply passionate about this work — and I’m very good at it.
If you’re a leader or part of a team feeling the strain, or already building this kind of culture and looking to go deeper, if this idea of workplaces as key players in shaping the social fabric of our future resonates with you — I’d love to connect.
Reach out at kirin@brownswell.com, and let’s talk.
In solidarity and care,
Kirin