You Good? Taking Care of People & Culture in Heavy Times
When the work is heavy, how do we keep showing up for each other, and for ourselves?
That question brought us together for another impactful LinkedIn Live conversation: You Good? Taking Care of People & Culture in Heavy Times.
What followed was a powerful, deeply honest conversation among equity-driven leaders who are navigating the weight of this work and still choosing care, connection, and community as core strategies for change.
If you missed the conversation or want to revisit the insights, we’re recapping the highlights below. And we invite you to watch the full recording here:
Let’s Start with the Question Behind the Title
“You good?”
It’s the kind of question that often masks what we really want to know: How are you, really?
At the start of our conversation, Michelle Molitor offered a powerful reminder: “Care is not a bonus. It’s a core competency. Culture is not a program. It is how we show up. It's how we live with each other every day. And sustainability is not selfish, it’s strategy.”
That’s the heart of this conversation.To name what’s heavy. To be seen in it. And to ask: How do we keep leading without leaving ourselves behind?
What Makes Care a Leadership Practice?
One of the clearest takeaways from the conversation was that care isn’t separate from leadership—it is leadership. It is strategy with love.
Equity work is rigorous, emotional, and unrelenting. And without intentional care—for ourselves, our teams, and our communities—it’s not sustainable.
At The Equity Lab, we’ve witnessed this truth across our fellowships, partnerships, and engagements. Lasting impact is only possible when leaders treat care as foundational, not optional.
So what does that look like in practice?
It means prioritizing relational trust just as much as productivity.
It means building feedback systems that foster both accountability and psychological safety.
It means checking in with yourself and your team before burnout sets in.
In a time when urgency is the default and pressure runs high, creating a culture of care isn’t a luxury, it has evolved into a strategic imperative. It's how we keep people, purpose, and progress intact.
Making Space for the Whole Person
There’s tension between holding big responsibilities and holding our humanity.
Whether you're a school leader managing staff transitions, or a nonprofit executive responding to community crises, the pressure to be “always on” is real.
That’s why so much of the conversation returned to one truth: People need room to be people.
We need room to process, to grieve, and not be okay.
Creating cultures where vulnerability is met with compassion isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the foundation for honest, equity-rooted work.
Naming What’s Heavy—and Why It Matters
When we talk about “heavy times,” we’re not being abstract. We’re naming the compounded realities that leaders, especially leaders of color, are holding:
Political and social trauma
Burnout from pushing for systemic change inside systems that resist it
Organizational transitions, resource strain, and community grief
But this didn’t just happen today. It is the echo of history, the accumulation of long-standing injustice and ongoing urgency.
But we still need to show up, to choose care, and to choose each other.
Not because it’s easy, but because we know that staying in community is how we move through the heaviness and toward something better.
So, What Does Support Really Look Like?
Our guests in this LinkedIn Live made it clear: support rooted in equity is a consistent, intentional practice.
It starts with leaders being honest about their own limits, creating space for others to do the same. It’s built through relational trust, not just check-ins focused on tasks. It lives in structures that make room for rest and reflection, and in the discipline it takes to protect those spaces when things get hard.
Support also means approaching difficult decisions with both clarity and compassion, keeping people at the center—not just outcomes.
It means empathy with accountability, care with clarity, and the commitment to hold both at once.
What We’re Learning and Recommitting To
As the conversation came to a close, it reinforced how essential care is to equity work. This is something we’ve always known, but don’t always name.
When we prioritize care, we create the conditions for people to be honest, to take risks, and to stay in the work even when it’s hard. That kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention, reflection, and a willingness to lead differently.
So when we ask “You good?” it is not just small talk. It is a way to open the door to connection, to acknowledge what people are carrying, and to remind one another that we don’t have to hold it all alone.
Keep the Conversation Going
If this conversation sparked something in you, we invite you to:
Share it with your team—and talk about what’s heavy, and what’s helping
Reach out to The Equity Lab to learn more about how we support equity-driven leaders and organizations create and cultivate cultures of care
In heavy times, checking in isn’t a formality. It’s a lifeline.
So we’ll ask again, with care— You good?
