Turn Systemic Distress
into  |

[ An open letter to BC Healthcare Leaders] 

I know you didn’t step into leadership to manage dysfunction.
You came because you care, to serve, to make a difference.

But somewhere along the line, the system started shaping you —
not around your purpose, but around its pain and distress.

A system that runs on urgency.
That hides its wounds behind hierarchy.
That teaches silence over truth.

This is what it means to lead inside a trauma-organized system.
Where burnout, urgency and busyness are normalized.
Where communication is prescriptive and punitive.

Where trust erodes under pressure, and disrespect is common.

You've become a crisis manager instead of a leader.
Locked into roles that weren't your choice.
Reacting to problems instead of creating change.

And here's what no one says in the meetings:

You can’t lead with courage, clarity or care
if the system you’re in is stuck in survival.
And you will never change that system
if you ignore that it’s living inside you.

There's a hidden cost of trauma-organization—
It shapes our teams, our culture, our nervous systems,
and our lives—and we can go on for years without realizing it.

The system makes you think you're too busy to be present,
You have too much to do to pay attention to people.

The toll is too high. We’re done paying for it with our health, families, and calling.

We must be human, present, and connected before it's too late. 

This is what will actually change our trauma-organized healthcare system.

This is what people are aching for below the overwhelm.

Because being present—really present—and human, isn’t just disruptive, it’s revolutionary.

So we’re choosing a new path.

One that starts in the nervous system, not in the strategy session.
One that moves at the speed of presence, not urgency.
One that re-imagines how we lead, live, and show up together.

We are Safe Space Systemic Leaders.

We build teams that connect and co-regulate.
We lead in ways that unify and heal—not harm.
We challenge what’s been normalized.
We stop passing on what was passed to us.
And we begin designing systems that make people stronger.

Because no system is worth saving
if it’s breaking the people inside it.

We’re not here to survive the system.

We're here to restore it from the inside out.