Kindness as a Practice: Leading with Care in Uncertain Times

Abstract

As I sat down to write this column in December 2025, we were emerging from a period marked
by chaos, turmoil, uncertainty, and profound stress. We had just come off the longest federal
government shutdown in US history. Millions of people faced the threat of losing their SNAP
benefits, while many families were bracing for potential reductions to or the loss of Affordable Care
Act subsidies that make basic healthcare accessible