Winter invites us to slow down. The world demands speed. For women in executive roles, this tension is particularly acute. How do we honor natural rhythms while meeting organizational demands?
I have been thinking about Katherine May's concept of wintering. She describes it as a season of necessary retreat, a time to rest and restore before the next cycle of growth. But what does that look like when you are leading a team through year-end deliverables?
The answer is not to abandon your responsibilities. It is to redefine what sustainable leadership looks like during this season. It is to recognize that you cannot lead from depletion.
Intentional wintering for executives means setting boundaries around energy, not just time. It means saying no to the optional meeting. It means delegating the project that does not require your specific expertise. It means protecting the margins.
It also means giving your team permission to winter. When you model sustainable practices, you create space for others to do the same. When you acknowledge that rest is productive, you shift the culture.
This is not about work-life balance. It is about integrated leadership. It is about recognizing that your capacity to lead is directly tied to your capacity to restore.
The women who RISE understand this. They do not wait for permission to rest. They build restoration into their operating system. They recognize that sustainable power requires rhythm, not relentless output.
What would it look like for you to winter intentionally this season? What would you need to release? What would you need to protect?
That is the work.