Western business culture makes the same mistake in two ways, neither celebrating wins, nor stopping to recognize loss. This vlog looks at pain that accompanies business loss, and how failures, setbacks, and hardships at work are often ignored. Here, Dean explains three simple actions that a leader can take to promote healing for a more effective team.
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In Western business culture, we rarely pause. We don’t stop to celebrate wins, and we just as rarely stop to mourn losses. Yet loss is built into the rhythm of professional life—missed shortlist interviews, declined promotions, low-profit years, stalled visibility, and pursuits that fall short. All of these experiences create emotional weight that leaders often ignore, which affects presence, engagement, and long-term resilience.
Recently, I experienced a significant loss in my own life, and my SagePresence team taught me a profound lesson in leadership presence. They modeled exactly what supportive, human-centered leadership looks like. Their approach formed a three-part framework any leader can use.
The first thing my team did was simple but powerful: they checked in with empathy. They made sure I knew they saw what I was carrying. In communication coaching and leadership development, we talk often about the power of presence—and this was presence in action. A leader who acknowledges loss reduces isolation and helps people feel seen.
The second thing they did was create space for me to talk. In most professional service environments—AEC firms, consulting groups, and similar fields—people push forward as if everything is fine. Silence becomes part of the culture. But teams become stronger when they’re allowed to name what’s real. Simply creating space for expression is a quiet version of team communication training, and it strengthens trust.
The third lesson they modeled was the most surprising: they kept me working in my most meaningful lane. They didn’t sideline me. They didn’t insist I step away from all responsibility. Instead, they kept me connected to work that gives me purpose—while giving me additional breathing room around the tedious tasks that often fill our days.
That balance—purpose with grace—is something we teach in presentation skills training and leadership coaching, but experiencing it firsthand brought new clarity. People don’t need to be fully removed from their work when suffering; they need to stay connected to what makes them feel valuable, just with more space to breathe.
So here’s the framework for leaders:
When you do these three things, you create a culture where people feel cared for, heard, and still connected to their value. That’s what real business leadership looks like when loss enters the room.
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