On Friday, I had the privilege of hosting the ROMH Managers for a session that was anything but ordinary. We called it Holding Space…but what unfolded was far more than a title. It was a soul-stretching, ego-challenging, truth-inviting experience. And yes, it made people uncomfortable.
Not because the room lacked safety. But because the questions asked refused to stay on the surface. I didn’t ask about quarterly goals or team dynamics. I asked about the self…the part we often silence in the name of professionalism, productivity, or politeness.
Here’s what I asked:
- How do I receive myself?
- What do I ignore that my spirit is trying to tell me?
- Why am I avoiding my true North?
These weren’t polite questions. They were invasive. They were necessary. Because leadership, real leadership isn’t just about KPIs and strategy decks. It’s about presence. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to sit with what’s uncomfortable and still choose to stay.
My question is this…Why Are We So Afraid of Depth? We live in a world that rewards surface-level engagement. We can talk about deadlines, deliverables, and data. But mention soul, spirit, or ego… and suddenly the air shifts! Why?
Because depth demands vulnerability. And vulnerability threatens the illusion of control. We fear being seen too clearly. We fear what we might discover if we stop performing and start listening. We fear that if we unravel, we won’t know how to rebuild.
My understanding, experience and truth?
Disruption, when held with care, becomes creation.
Disruption, when held with care, becomes creation.
The energy that held us in the session was intuitive…I didn’t walk into that room with a script.
I walked in with a fluid framework:
- Awareness - the willingness to see what is.
- Allowance - the grace to let it be.
- Presence - the courage to stay with it.
Three words. One invitation: Unravel to rebuild. And it worked. Not because everyone had answers. Rather, they allowed themselves to sit in the questions. Some leaned in. Some pulled back. Some resisted. All were moved.
I advocate for Leadership That Listens to the Soul:
- We talk about psychological safety, but rarely about spiritual safety.
- We speak of emotional intelligence, but shy away from soulful intelligence.
- We celebrate authenticity, but only when it’s tidy and palatable.
- What if leadership wasn’t just about what we do, but how we receive ourselves?
- What if the next frontier of growth isn’t upward...but inward?
As a final reflection, I believe that Holding Space isn’t a technique. It’s a posture. It’s the skill of staying present when things get uncomfortable. It’s the discipline of asking the questions that matter…even when they disrupt.
So yes, I disrupted. And I’ll keep disrupting. Because beneath the discomfort lies the doorway to transformation.
And I believe we’re ready to walk through.
