The Smart Communications Podcast: Episode 190 Summary
Title: How Can You Move from Self-Care to Collective Care?
Host: Farrah, Co-Director at Big Duck
Guest: Lan Tao, Senior Consultant and Executive Coach at Community Resource Exchange (CRE)
Release Date: July 9, 2025
Introduction: Setting the Stage for Collective Wellbeing
In Episode 190 of The Smart Communications Podcast, host Farrah engages in a compelling conversation with Lan Tao, a seasoned executive coach from CRE. The episode delves into the transformative concept of carepacity, exploring how nonprofit organizations can transition from focusing solely on individual self-care to fostering a culture of collective care.
Farrah introduces the episode with enthusiasm, highlighting her recent meeting with Lan at a Nonprofit New York conference where the notion of carepacity first sparked her interest. This sets the tone for an insightful discussion aimed at empowering nonprofit leaders to enhance their organizational wellness.
Understanding Carepacity: A Framework for Organizational Wellness
[03:30] Lan Tao: "Carepacity is our framework at CRE for embedding care into how nonprofit organizations work. It's multidimensional and it's an intersectional lens on workplace wellness."
Lan elaborates on carepacity, emphasizing its role as a multidimensional and intersectional framework designed to integrate care into the very fabric of nonprofit operations. She breaks down the concept into four key dimensions:
- Personal Wellness
- Interpersonal Wellness
- Organizational Wellness
- Community and Societal Wellness
Lan underscores the importance of recognizing the varying access to wellness based on context, identity, and privilege, stating, “It's intersectional because it's important to acknowledge that access to wellness will vary depending on your context, your identity, your privilege.”
Anticipatory Burnout: The Hidden Threat
The conversation takes a deep dive into the phenomenon of anticipatory burnout, a state where individuals and organizations experience heightened stress in anticipation of potential challenges.
[04:16] Lan Tao: “This kind of anticipatory obedience was speaking to the behavior that some organizations will self censor or preemptively comply because of the potential consequences that may be coming their way given the climate that was being created.”
Lan explains that anticipatory burnout arises when organizations prepare for adversity, leading to increased cortisol levels and stress even before any concrete issues manifest. This proactive stress response can significantly hinder sustainable mission-driven work, affecting both individuals and teams.
Organizational Wellness and Inclusive Culture
Transitioning to organizational wellness, Farrah probes the connection between carepacity and fostering an inclusive culture that promotes belonging within teams.
[08:26] Lan Tao: "Capacity works to expand our ability for self-care by developing better ways to foster collective care."
Lan introduces the Emotional Energy Matrix, a strategic tool designed to help managers assess and understand the emotional and energy levels of their teams. The matrix categorizes team states into four quadrants:
- Survival Mode: High energy but negative emotions driven by stress and pressure.
- Performance Mode: High energy and positive emotions, the ideal state for thriving teams.
- Burnout Mode: Low energy and negative emotions indicating deep exhaustion.
- Restoration Mode: Low energy but positive emotions, a necessary phase for recovery.
By identifying where their teams fall within this matrix, leaders can implement targeted strategies to move their teams towards performance and restoration modes, ensuring long-term sustainability and wellbeing.
Metaphor of Encanto: Illustrating Carepacity
To illustrate carepacity, Lan draws an engaging parallel with Disney's Encanto, a story about a magical family whose harmony sustains their powers.
[09:32] Lan Tao: “Each madrigal represents a kind of capacity... but when the pressure to keep producing results starts to crack the foundation...”
In Encanto, the family's collective wellbeing is paramount, mirroring how nonprofit organizations must prioritize collective care over mere performance. Lan highlights that just as the family's home holds their magic together, nonprofits must maintain healthy organizational cultures to sustain their missions. Mirabel, the protagonist without a traditional gift, symbolizes the essential role of care and connection in preserving organizational health.
HERO Framework: Building Resilient Teams
Furthering the discussion, Lan introduces the HERO framework—Hope, Efficacy, Resolve, and Optimism—as foundational elements for fostering resilient and thriving teams.
[20:08] Lan Tao: “HERO stands for hope, efficacy, resolve, and optimism...”
- Hope: Belief in a better future and the motivation to work towards it.
- Efficacy: Confidence in one's ability to effect change.
- Resolve: Sustainable problem-solving and forward movement.
- Optimism: Positive outlook fostering creativity and collaboration.
Lan emphasizes that cultivating HERO traits within an organization leads to energized, engaged teams capable of overcoming challenges with a shared sense of purpose and belonging.
Practical Steps for Leaders: Implementing Carepacity and HERO
[21:43] Lan Tao: “So, so that the aspect of hero begins to be a part of your culture.”
Lan offers actionable strategies for leaders to embed carepacity and the HERO framework into their organizational practices:
- Name the Stuff: Encourage open dialogue about stress, fear, and fatigue.
- Model HERO Behaviors: Leaders should demonstrate hope, efficacy, resolve, and optimism in their actions.
- Protect Restoration: Implement policies like collective downtime or scheduled closures to ensure organizational recovery.
- Create Safe Spaces: Foster environments where team members feel seen, supported, and respected.
Farrah adds personal insights, sharing how her organization has benefited from collective downtime, reinforcing the importance of synchronized recovery for overall team health.
Conclusion: Embracing Collective Care for Sustainable Impact
As the episode concludes, Farrah invites listeners to explore more about carepacity by visiting CRE’s website and connecting with Lan on LinkedIn. She reiterates the importance of transitioning from individual self-care to a collective approach, ensuring that nonprofit organizations not only survive but thrive in their missions.
[24:16] Farrah: “Take care of yourselves and your organizations. Be good.”
Key Takeaways:
- Carepacity is a holistic framework that integrates personal, interpersonal, organizational, and community wellness within nonprofits.
- Anticipatory Burnout poses a significant threat by preemptively increasing stress and reducing sustainability.
- Emotional Energy Matrix helps leaders identify and address team emotional states to foster a thriving work environment.
- The HERO Framework—Hope, Efficacy, Resolve, Optimism—is essential for building resilient and engaged teams.
- Practical strategies for leaders include naming challenges, modeling desired behaviors, protecting restoration times, and creating safe spaces for open communication.
By embracing carepacity and HERO, nonprofit leaders can cultivate inclusive, supportive, and sustainable organizations capable of achieving their missions effectively.
Resources Mentioned:
- Community Resource Exchange (CRE): crenyc.org
- Encanto (Disney Movie)
- Emotional Energy Matrix Framework
- HERO Framework: Hope, Efficacy, Resolve, Optimism
Connect with Lan Tao: LinkedIn
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