Leading While Carrying More: A Black History Month Reflection
Leading while carrying more is an experience that often goes unnamed, yet deeply felt, especially during Black History Month. For many Black leaders and professionals, leadership is not just about responsibility or vision; it also includes navigating systemic pressure, emotional labor, representation, and resilience in spaces not always designed with their well-being in mind.
As February invites reflection, it also creates space to acknowledge what leadership truly costs, and why support, rest, and care are not extras, but necessities.
The Invisible Weight Behind Leading While Carrying More
Leading while carrying more often means holding professional expectations alongside unspoken burdens. Black leaders are frequently asked to be strong, composed, and resilient while managing experiences of bias, hypervisibility, and the pressure to represent more than just themselves.
Research from the American Psychological Association shows that chronic exposure to stressors linked to racial inequity significantly impacts mental health, increasing risks of anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and burnout. Yet these realities are rarely at the center of mainstream leadership conversations. As a result, leadership can feel isolating, even at the top.
Why Leading While Carrying More Requires Emotional Awareness
Leading While Carrying More demands emotional awareness, not emotional suppression. Too often, leaders are encouraged to push through stress rather than process it, which only deepens fatigue over time.
This is where reflection and emotional safety matter. When leaders have space to acknowledge their experiences honestly, leadership becomes more sustainable. This theme naturally connects with Leading with Empathy: Creating Emotional Safety at Work, which explores how empathy supports not only teams but also leaders themselves. Emotional awareness is not a weakness; it is a form of wisdom.
Leading While Carrying More During Black History Month
Leading While Carrying More during Black History Month brings layered emotions. Pride, grief, resilience, and hope often coexist. While the month honors legacy and progress, it can also surface fatigue from continuously carrying the responsibility to educate, inspire, and endure.
This is why rest and reflection are essential. As discussed in A New Year Without Burnout: Why Women Need Support, Not More Pressure, sustainable leadership begins when support replaces constant self-demand. Black history is not only about perseverance, but it is also about humanity.
The Importance of Support When Leading While Carrying More
Support systems, whether community spaces, mentors, wellness practices, or trusted peers, act as stabilizers against burnout. Studies published in Harvard Business Review highlight social support as one of the strongest buffers against leadership stress and emotional fatigue. Support allows leaders to:
Process experiences without judgment
Set healthier boundaries
Maintain clarity under pressure
Lead without constant depletion
This aligns closely with Designing a Wellness Vision That Honors Both Rest and Resistance, where leadership growth is framed as both strength and care.
Honoring Self While Leading While Carrying More
Leading while carrying more also means honoring yourself beyond your role. Leadership does not require emotional self-erasure. Practices such as journaling, mindfulness, and intentional rest help leaders reconnect with themselves amid the demands of leadership.
In Journaling for Self-Discovery: Prompts to Know Yourself, reflection is offered as a pathway back to inner clarity, something especially important when leadership feels heavy. Healing and leadership are not separate journeys.
A Collective Reflection
As Black History Month reminds us of resilience, innovation, and leadership, it also invites us to ask a gentler question: What would leadership look like if care were built into it, not earned after exhaustion? When leaders are allowed to be human, leadership itself becomes more honest, inclusive, and sustainable
If you are leading while carrying more, know this: your experience is valid. Your fatigue is understandable. And your well-being matters just as much as your contribution.
Join Hervival membership, designed to help you stay consistent in your self-care, spiritual wellness, and soul alignment.
Leadership does not have to require constant sacrifice. It is rooted in care, community, and connection. And as we honor Black history, may we also honor the leaders who continue to carry and choose to care for themselves along the way.
Research & References
American Psychological Association. (2022). Stress and health disparities: Contexts, mechanisms, and interventions. https://www.apa.org
Harvard Business Review. (2020). Burnout is about your workplace, not your people. https://hbr.org
World Health Organization. (2022). Mental health at work. h
