Addressing Systematic Burnout in Leadership
In the Liverpool City Region, Black and Global Majority leaders often face a “double burden”: managing the standard pressures of high-level leadership while simultaneously navigating inequitable systems, institutional racism, and the exhaustion of “code-switching.”
Traditional leadership programmes often emphasise endurance (simply working harder), which leads to chronic stress and burnout.
SO Health identified a critical need for a space that prioritised the psychological safety and radical wellbeing of these changemakers to ensure their leadership remained sustainable rather than extractive.
Co-Producing a Restorative Leadership Framework
The objective was to design and deliver a seven-month intervention, Radical Resilience, funded by the LCRCA Race Equality Hub. The mission was threefold:
- Move beyond “grit” to focus on active recovery and nervous system regulation.
- Foster a “Safe Space” where leaders could connect without the need for professional performance or filtered identities.
- Build a Sustainable Network of 20+ leaders through a curriculum rooted in authenticity, power-reclaiming, and solidarity.
Implementation of Radical Solidarity and Wellbeing
SO Health executed the program through a deeply collaborative, evidence-based approach:
- Inclusive Co-Production: Before launching, SO Health conducted two in-person consultations with senior managers and activists from major institutions (such as the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Liverpool City Council). Participants were compensated for their expertise, ensuring the curriculum reflected lived experience.
- The Seven-Month Journey: Once the programme began, the Radical Resilience group met on the last Friday of every month for seven months. These sessions combined “breaking bread” with high-level professional development.
- Strategic Toolkits: SO Health introduced practical frameworks, including:
The Advocacy Triangle: Teaching leaders when to Speak Up, Strategize, or Step Back to preserve their energy. - Resilience Reset Wheel: Practical tools like 4-7-8 breathwork for nervous system regulation during high-stress institutional moments.
- Dismantling Isolation: By facilitating “Radical Solidarity,” the program shifted the focus from individual survival to a collective care network.
Results: Empowered Leaders and a Proven Model for Change
The programme delivered measurable impact across the Liverpool City Region’s leadership landscape:
- Engagement & Consistency: The programme achieved a cumulative attendance of 61, with an initial cohort of 20 leaders maintaining a consistent “care network.”
- 100% Validation: Every feedback respondent (100%) emphasised the importance of the space for allowing them to exist without code-switching.
- Enhanced Professional Confidence: Participants reported a shift from “imposter syndrome” to “unapologetic empowerment,” gaining the confidence to lead authentically within hostile or inequitable spaces.
- Systemic Recommendations: The pilot successfully identified key barriers (such as the need for non-city-centre accessibility and ongoing recreational “hangouts”) to inform Phase 2.
- Long-term Sustainability: The programme moved the needle from a “pilot” to a “blueprint,” proving that when Black and Global Majority leaders are given restorative support, their capacity for impactful, long-term leadership increases significantly.
