25 March 2025   By Alison Maitland

You’re a purposeful leader, driven by your values and commitment to make a difference. How do you maintain hope when progress often seems to be going backwards? How do you keep pushing on through turbulence and resistance?

These questions were at the heart of a session on resilience, hope and wellbeing that I ran in Paris last week for over 40 leaders in The Conference Board Europe’s Inclusion Council.

Drawing on the powerful practices of ‘Active Hope’, I invited these leaders to converse in small groups, starting with what they care most about. We then moved on to what concerns them about the future, how and where they find fresh inspiration, and what actions they intend to take to help bring about the better future they want to see.
The conversations went deep, and the feedback showed how valuable it is to have such an opportunity to talk about feelings, in a space that is set up for safe and brave sharing. Research shows that doing so resources us and strengthens our commitment to the positive change we want to see.

One participant said afterwards: ‘Thank you for reminding us how important it is to look after ourselves, so we have the energy to support others and keep leading with purpose.’ Others remarked on the connections made, how they were not alone, and the importance of curious conversations and of listening to understand.

While this session was for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leaders, the approach is just as relevant for leaders in climate and sustainability, or indeed any team involved in transformation, or facing crisis and change.

Do you have deep, coaching-style conversations like this in your team and organisation?
If so, what benefits do you see?
If not, how would it be to try this out?

With thanks to the Council Directors, Sarah Bond and Kalpana Bagamane for being so open to this experiential session. And to Active Hope authors Joanna Macy and Chris Johnston, for their inspiring work.

See this post on LinkedIn for comments.