A small group of Réseau Compassion Network (RCN) leaders spent five days and four nights at the Hecla Lakeview Resort in April for the Heart of Leadership Retreat. The event is offered twice a year and is the premier offering on the slate of educational and speaker sessions organised by RCN.
“This is an investment in the wellbeing of our leaders,” explains the Director of Culture and Compassion at RCN, Jennifer Kilimnik. “We want to thank them for the work that they’re doing by giving them an opportunity to experience a new way of being within a really challenging time in history and in health care. We know that the mental health and wellbeing of our leaders is more fragile than it’s ever been.”
The retreat features a variety of ways to explore a leader’s presence and their self-care practices. “There’s optional yoga and meditation in the mornings, followed by a chance for reflective leadership exercises and learning practices that help us be present with difficult moments or experiences,” continues Kilimnik. “The afternoon is more focused on practices and time in nature, and in the evening, we spend some time discussing and sharing.”
France Rama, Director of Innovation at Centre de santé Saint-Boniface attended the most recent retreat. When asked what she would say to other leaders considering attending, her answer is simple.
“Just go!” she shares without hesitation. “It’s five days to step away from everyday life to concentrate on yourself and your needs. You will go back to your work and home life as a better person. You don’t have to cook or clean or take care of family members… you can think about yourself for a bit. You come back from retreat reconnected to yourself and, all of a sudden, that compassion we want to demonstrate shows up a bit more. You’re more forgiving of yourself and others.”
As a leader herself, Rama often reflects on the way she wants to show up at work. “I’m doing this interview surrounded by four piles of things to do that just keep getting bigger,” she admits. “And I know I will get it all done, but if I’m getting things done and my relationships at work and with clients aren’t strong, it might all be for nothing. This retreat was a reminder that the most impactful things we do at work sometimes include making people feel listened to and affirmed, and not always about completing tasks.”
Kilimnik confirms that these are the goals of the retreat. “It’s been shown that leaders who use these kind of mindfulness practices have a higher degree of trust from their teams,” she shares. “For both the leaders and their teams, there’s an enhanced sense of meaning and purpose in their work. We use modern contemplative practices that are well researched, evidence-based and secular, and we use them because they teach people how to create more space, how to be present, reduces their reactivity and they’re able to be more considered in how they respond to situations.”
She also loves the connection and inspiration that comes from thinking of retreats and how the founding congregations of our organizations would have seen them. “This is a modern interpretation of the work that the Sisters would have done,” Kilimnik says. “They lived in a state of contemplative practice every day, and in community. These retreats allow people to get back to what’s really in their hearts.”
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If you’d like to know more about the Heart of Leadership Retreats, please contact Jennifer Kilimnik at jkilimnik@reseaucompassionnetwork.ca.