Bethaney Wilkinson is a facilitator and spiritual director who is passionate about holding space for the changes we long for most in the world. She is author of The Diversity Gap: Where Good Intentions Meet True Cultural Change and hosts a podcast by the same name, which has been downloaded over a quarter of a million times worldwide. She is the founder of multiple social impact efforts including A More Beautiful Way, The Diversity Gap, Grace Dialogues, and Atlanta Harvest. She has dedicated more than a decade to exploring the intersections of community, racial healing, and social change—specifically in the organizational context.
As part of her work, Bethaney has been invited to share at major conferences and in partnership with top global companies, including Google, Creative Mornings, Ball, Magna International and more. She has a degree in Education from Emory University and in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is in the process of becoming a Certified Spiritual Director via the Kairos Spiritual Direction Training Program from Parish Resource Center. She is also in the process of becoming a Certified Breathwork Facilitator to better support BIPOC communities on their embodied healing journeys.
As a facilitator and thought leader, Bethaney is passionate about amplifying creative solutions to the challenges facing diverse communities and organizations.
When she’s not holding space for individuals or teams, you can find her reading about spiritual formation, playing with her dogs Isla and Bear, or sustaining Cedar Wilde, a 1-acre homestead and market garden with her husband Alex.
Main quote:
It serves me - and it might serve others - to look at all of the different types of changes and the discomfort that they bring, as invitations. To deepen self awareness, deepen love of neighbor, to deepen our expertise in managing a team.
Additional Quotes:
People tend to have very unrealistic expectations about how long something is going to take, how long it takes to really understand one another, how long it takes to get on the same page. It takes a long time and having a workshop here and there doesn't quite get us to where we're trying to go. Information is incredible and I love a good light bulb moment. I love learning new language for things, but embodying a new way of leadership, a new way of working across lines of difference in ways that truly honors the dignity of every person at every intersection is really hard work. And, it's often messy.
Part of the reason transformation takes so long is because people are already at capacity in life, typically. We are leading full lives with partners and kids and homes and communities and things happening all over the globe. I think that our capacity tends to be limited, at least in modern times. The amount of space it takes to think deeply about the shifts needed in our organization, that space tends to not be there unless we create it.
The really practical cost is higher turnover. It tends to lend itself to a disengaged workforce, people who feel used and not valued. There are real financial costs to that turnover. Depending on the nature of the organization, it can lead to broken trust in a community, the communities you're serving, the clients you're trying to reach if you aren't able to be responsive and adaptive to like the felt needs of the people you're serving.
What does it mean to let things rest, to let things lie fallow for a time, and then return to the next phase of it when we're ready.
Leaving well means looking at the real, even if it's uncomfortable and doing the best you can with what you have and honoring the present reality. Knowing that in some grand sense, there's grace for every step of the journey.
To connect with Bethaney
To connect with A More Beautiful Way:
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To take the Workplace Transition Archetype Quiz
To learn more about Leaving Well
This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley
