The banyan and the redwood – harmonising inner journeys with collective action

On my social media, I see content around wellbeing with each scroll. From bubble baths and vacations in the countryside to therapist recommended to-dos and mental health stories – wellbeing has almost become a state to aspire to, to reach. Last year, I attended a Leader’s Lab gathering in Bangalore. It brought together system orchestrators to pause, reflect and connect. As I spoke to these leaders, I realised wellbeing is an ongoing practice, born of the safety and room to reconnect with ourselves, our purpose, our roots. Especially for leaders who work on social problems, wellbeing may come with a tinge of guilt or be on the back burner because of the responsibility they feel towards the communities they work with and the problem they’re trying to solve. While I saw Leader’s Lab as a space especially fostered for the wellbeing of such leaders, I asked Aruna, Chief - Leader’s Lab, her perspective.?

“The journey to impact at scale is like an adventure, full of twists and turns, ups and downs. System Orchestrators who embark on these journeys undergo not only external but internal shifts too. In fact, often external shifts are a reflection of and informed by internal shifts. Especially since a lot of these journeys are pioneering and explore uncharted territories, they demand a recalibration of both the mind and heart. And, despite the orchestrators’ passion, purpose and potential, they often grapple with loneliness and doubt along the way.?

In the last two years, we’ve paid special attention to what System Orchestrators need to feel safe and supported. We’re also mapping the internal shifts that they undergo, what are the chasms they face and what it takes to overcome them. We’ve realised system orchestration is a delicate balance between deep work and tall work. What resonates with us is to think about it as the banyan and the redwood.?

Banyan trees are known for their deep roots – representing the inward-looking inquiry and work that comes with system orchestration. Redwood trees, on the other hand, grow as widespread networks – representing that it takes a village to successfully take these journeys.?

At Leader’s Lab, we focus on harmonising the banyan and the redwood by nurturing spaces where System Orchestrators can pause and reflect so as to replenish their capacity to create impact at scale, digging deep into self-efficacy and what it means to develop and reinforce it ongoingly, and fostering connections for collaboration and co-creation.?

If you are a System Orchestrator or know someone who is, I invite you to reach out to us at Aruna Venkatachalam ."

Here’s what a few leaders thoughts on wellbeing:?

• “I think regardless of how senior you are or what position you occupy, we're all human beings. Coming together as human beings and sharing our experiences is special. I don't go into a place saying I have this much experience or this is what I have accomplished or achieved. I'm just going there and being myself and the other folks there I'm hoping that they will be themselves. If they have their guard up, I'm hoping that maybe when I talk to them they will let it down a little bit because I'm letting my guard down.” – Kruti Bharucha , CEO, Peepul , on spaces for meaningful connection and vulnerability
• “Wellbeing for me is empowering the team towards their full potential as an individual and a community while maintaining their self-respect, dignity towards meaningful life experiences. We are driven by justice and equity. Through regular check-ins, safe spaces for dialogue, and capacity building towards understanding various dimensions of inclusivity, and respect across gender, caste, and class. we ensure that everyone feels heard, supported, and empowered in their journey towards collective change.” – prafulla shashikant , Founder Director, Vowels of the People Association , on wellbeing being intertwined with equity, individually and organisationally
• “I feel like we all have a yearning to create something. I wonder what is the nature of work we need to do on ourselves or within ourselves to also be able to do the kind of work that we're doing and want to do. How do we be in sync with the work that we're doing, embody the work that we're doing, how do we, how do we organise ourselves around this nature of work?” – Keerthana Medarametla , Senior Curator, Agami , on how inward-looking journeys inform the roads we travel
• “When you talk to leaders heart to heart, you realise that there’s been so much turmoil, there’ve been so many struggles – and in that all of us have been so similar in our journeys. Where we are right now may be very different, our areas of work may be very different, but as humans, as basic individuals, we have all strived to push boundaries." – Khushboo Awasthi COO, ShikshaLokam on why community is integral to the wellbeing of leaders
• We set ourselves these ridiculously ambitious targets and then all our energy is focussed on achieving them. There's very little time to reflect back in terms of who's the person who originally had this idea. Who is this person who is evolving as the idea evolves? Who is this person taking on all of these challenges of solving so many problems that you have to overcome? – Priya Naik , Founder and CEO, Samhita , on the need to make space for introspection

Here a few perspectives:

• What happens when we shift from believing we are lone heroes to enabling collective action?
• Cultivating a ‘resilience mindset’?
• Openness as a way to navigate today’s brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible (BANI) world
• A neurodivergent lens on ‘everyone changes at their own pace’?
• The need to ensure a dignified maternity experience for the wellbeing of mothers?

See you next month,

Anjali Hans