Staying Whole in a Breaking System: Notes from the Frontline of Staff Care
There’s a quiet truth whispered in corners of field offices and early-morning leadership calls:
“We can’t keep going like this.”
And yet — we do.
We keep going, keep pushing, keep absorbing more than we were ever meant to carry. We get creative. We get determined. And sometimes, we quietly break.
For many humanitarian professionals — from frontline workers to HQ leaders — the work that once felt like purpose can begin to feel like weight. Not because the work doesn’t matter, but because we’ve been taught to sacrifice ourselves for the mission.
We call it burnout. But often, it’s something deeper.
The Slow Erosion We Don’t Talk About
What I’ve witnessed across two decades of working in this sector — and what I hear from the individuals and teams I coach — is not simply exhaustion. It’s a kind of grief. A quiet erosion of clarity, conviction, and sometimes identity.
It sounds like:
“I don’t recognize myself anymore.”
“I used to love this work. Now I just try to survive it.”
“I’m holding everyone together… and no one’s holding me.”
This isn’t about a lack of resilience. It’s about a system that asks too much, too often, from too few — without enough care or recalibration along the way.
What It Means to “Stay Whole”
Staying whole isn’t about perfect balance.
It’s not about bubble baths or taking a weekend off.
It’s about reclaiming something essential:
Your self. Your values. Your clarity. Your humanness.
For the individuals I work with, this might look like:
Making a values-based career decision — even if it means stepping away
Reconnecting with personal needs after years of compartmentalizing them
Learning to set boundaries that feel less like walls, and more like dignity
For teams and organizations, it looks like:
Naming the toll of collective stress, trauma, and change
Creating space for honest conversations without shame or retaliation
Building staff care systems that go beyond “wellness perks” and into culture, leadership, and structure
Staying whole is not an individual achievement — it’s a collective practice. One that must be modeled, supported, and protected, especially in environments built on urgency and self-sacrifice.
What I’ve Learned from Working on the Inside
I didn’t arrive at this work by accident.
I’ve lived and worked in complex humanitarian settings.
I’ve witnessed the brilliance — and the heartbreak — of people doing everything they can to alleviate suffering, while suffering quietly themselves.
That’s why I started my coaching and consulting company, KRC.
To hold space for people and organizations navigating high-stakes work with deep humanity.
The kind of space and support that I wished I’d had when going through my own pits and trials.
Our work is not about “fixing” individuals who are struggling.
It’s about asking better questions:
What’s working — and what’s not?
What kind of support actually meets this moment?
What would it take to stay whole, even here?
You’re Not Broken. The System Is.
If you’ve felt tired, disoriented, unsure of your next step — you’re not alone.
There is nothing wrong with you for struggling in a system that rarely pauses.
And there are ways to begin again.
Through coaching, psychosocial support, and organizational partnership, we help humanitarian individuals and teams navigate what’s hard — and rebuild what’s possible.
Because your well-being is not a luxury.
It’s a form of resistance.
A strategic act of integrity.
A way of saying: not like this anymore.
Thanks for reading The Olive Pages: Fieldnotes on care, clarity, and staying whole
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KRC provides coaching, psychosocial support, and organizational consulting to humanitarian professionals and mission-driven organizations worldwide. Based in lived experience and trauma-aware care, our work helps clients navigate burnout, moral injury, organizational change, and career transitions — while staying human in the process.