178. Tracey Ivanyshyn: How Leaders Can Create Sacred Space For Grief & Loss

Stay Grounded with Raj Jana

“Loss is part of life and we have to be able to support people better.”

COVID interrupted our lives in so many unexpected ways. As the fallout of the pandemic continues, people across the world are experiencing loss and grief in ways we couldn’t have predicted.

Some people are working through job losses, business closures, and shifts in the way we socialize, travel, and work. Others are navigating the grief of losing a loved one. In this way, COVID has brought the subject of death to the surface. Death is a conversation many of us in the western world are ill equipped to hold, handle, or lead - at work and in our homes.

Serial entrepreneur - Tracey Ivanyshyn - is on a mission to change this way of being by helping founders and companies create a culture that holds space for good grief at work. This work is so important - especially during these times - because companies that can hold space for ‘good grief’ are stronger; as are their people.

“Grief is like a wave.”

Tracey is the CEO of three companies, a founder and a soul centered leader. She’s also a ‘retired’ social worker, with recent studies in Palliative Care, The Art of Dying and The Grief Journey.

Selected to join Virgin Unite's 100% Human at Work Group, Tracey attends quarterly gatherings with the Virgin Group of Companies. She’s published in their annual Culture Experiments Collection alongside many corporate culture giants - Google, Zappos, Chanel, Unilever, Ideo and NextJump to name a few.

In life, death is the only thing that’s certain, which means grief will tap us all on the shoulder at some point. By empowering people and companies to create sacred space for ‘good grief’, Tracey opens the door to borrow wisdom from death, so we can better live.

Key takeaways:

1. The mindset for shifting the grief conversation.
2. Understanding the power of acknowledging loss.
3. How to hold and support someone with grief.
4. What are meaningful condolences?
5. Allowing empathy to guide your response to grief.
6. Exploring rituals for grief and remembrance.
7. Tangible ways leaders can open up about grief and loss.
8. Letters to a 10-year-old. Why Tracey is inspired to support people in grief.
9. The two questions people ask at the end of life that you could be asking now.
10. And more...

This episode’s conversation is so beautiful. Tracey’s empathy, compassion, and heart shines through. She makes a challenging topic feel like a safe space to explore. Check it out for yourself.

“I think that grief can trip us up because we don’t have the right words.”

Contact Info:

• www.reimaginegoodbye.com
• Tracey.forster.ivanyshyn (Facebook)
• https://www.instagram.com/goodgriefatwork
• http://twitter.com/goodgriefatwork

Summary/ Call to Action:

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