The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind for American politics. While tensions and stakes are still high, there’s one thing that’s become clear:

No matter what happens this November, or the November after that, or the November after that, we will take care of us. No matter what fascism and racism throw at us, we will face it – and fight it – beside each other. When the world as it is now is reborn into one where everyone is truly free, it will be because we imagined it together. And we’ll dream up what will come after that together, too. 

At Rockwood, we know that mutual reliance & resilience requires teams to be aligned in vision and purpose, skillful in navigating complex challenges, and emotionally intelligent to hold each other through conflict. 

Consider your own team: are they prepared to meet this moment?

If you’ve been thinking about how to shore up your team for what might come after November, or even what’s present now, it might be time to consider investing in leadership training. Leadership training is a long-term strategy for effectiveness and impact, and that strategy expands ten-fold when a whole team or organization goes through leadership development training together, either as a group or by everyone taking the same training at different times.

Here are some benefits of investing in leadership training for your whole team or organization:

1. Improved Collaboration: Leadership training can help us see each other more fully and practice listening deeply, building trust and empathy that allows your team to work together more effectively and cohesively.
2. Better Conflict Resolution: We all have different wants and needs, and we’re all looking at situations with a unique and valid perspective. Going through a training together puts people on equal footing at the start of situations where there’s conflict because they have a shared vocabulary and toolkit to work from.
3. Adaptive Thinking: Sending your team through leadership development training can help them gain the skill to pivot deftly and with clear vision and purpose, ultimately making organizations and movements more sustainable.
4. Builds A Leadership Pipeline: Our movements need a legacy of leadership to carry the work forward and to pass on our vision of what the world can be. Investing in leadership training prepares your team to take on leadership roles to maintain a balance so they don’t burn out and leave the work altogether.
5. Trust and Transparency: We need strong alliances and communities in order to withstand any divisive tactics or distractions that may be thrown at us. Leadership development training can give your team the tools they need to be self-aware and open enough to be both trustworthy and trusting.

Leadership Development Trainings To Explore

Now that you know the benefits of investing in leadership development for your team, you might be wondering where to find trainings. Here are some organizations in our network to start your search:

• Rockwood has space in our upcoming Art Of Navigating Change and the new Growing White Leadership For Racial Equity trainings. We’ve also added the first of our 2025 Art Of Leadership dates to the calendar.
  

• Compasspoint offers a wide variety of workshops for all types of leaders to gain different skills.
• The Management Center is the best place to equip your team with skills and structures to work together, build trust, take accountability, and be more effective.
• Interaction Institute For Social Change is currently hosting “Leadership For Transformative Futures,” a multi-part training series on navigating trauma and disruption.
• Resonance Network offers trainings and community spaces focused on storytelling, imagination, and envisioning liberatory futures. 
• Coaching For Healing Justice & Liberation, fiscally sponsored by Rockwood, has its Intro To Liberatory Coaching offering to give teams foundational coaching skills to use in almost any situation, allowing you to build connection, trust, and alignment.

While working on the launch of the Building Resilient Organizations zine, I found myself reflecting deeply on this line:

“See as a center of your work the establishment and reestablishment of connection, meaning, and belonging.”

In many ways, it seems impossible to prioritize connection when there’s so much going on within our organizations, our communities, and the world.

But it’s not impossible.

We can create workplaces and communities that reflect the world we are working to build. We can transform our organizations into spaces and places where there’s never a doubt that we can and should rely on one another.

Because we’ve got us. And that’s what matters most.