Leadership with No Net: Black Women, Burnout, and the Burden of Awareness

Nurse deciding to get the Nurse Recovery System™

Leadership with No Net: Black Women, Burnout, and the Burden of Awareness

By Glennae Davis, RN

July 17th 2025

Some of us don’t lead because we asked for it.We lead because we couldn’t afford not to.

We saw too much.We knew too much.And we cared too deeply to be quiet.

But no one tells you that awareness comes with weight.Especially when you’re a Black woman.Especially in healthcare.Especially in positions of responsibility without real protection.

They want your passion, but not your power.They want your presence, but not your pushback.They want your leadership—but give you no net to land on when the pressure breaks your body.

🧠 The Emotional Cost of Knowing Better

Black women in leadership aren’t just carrying tasks.We’re carrying teams.We’re carrying trauma.We’re carrying the tension between excellence and exploitation—every single day.

We see the microaggressions that others excuse.We feel the unspoken standards no one else is held to.We anticipate the retaliation before we even raise our hand.

That’s not stress.That’s systemic spiritual injury.And too many of us are burning out not because we’re weak—but because we’re wide awake.

⚖️ No Support, No Safety, No Sabbath

They say, “You’re so strong.”But what they really mean is, “You’ve survived without help.”And they assume you always will.

We lead without mentorship.We advocate without backup.We protect others without anyone protecting us.

That’s leadership with no net.

And while everyone else is applauding your resilience, your kidneys are shutting down.Your hair is falling out.Your nervous system is screaming.And nobody sees it as urgent—because you still show up smiling.

🙏🏾 You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone

You weren’t called to collapse in the name of leadership.You were called to be strategic, not sacrificial.

Even Jesus didn’t lead alone.Even Moses had Aaron.Even the most powerful people in scripture rested—because the weight of vision without support becomes a prison.

So to every Black woman in healthcare, education, or corporate life:

If your body is breaking down while you’re breaking glass ceilings—you’re not failing.You’re being invited to lead from a place of restoration, not rupture.

You don’t need to prove your value by carrying it all.You need a system that sees you, supports you, and doesn’t expect your silence in exchange for your salary.

And if they won’t build it, we will.

I do the work that I do hoping to rewrite these stories—giving God the glory, not medicine.