Moving from Suffering to Love: Emotional Healing for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren with Dr. Anthony Silard: Ep 98
Moving from Suffering to Love: Emotional Healing for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren with Dr. Anthony Silard
Being an Invisible CEO is often a solo mission. You are managing a high-stakes "turnaround" of a family unit, often while grieving the life you thought you’d be living in your 50s and 60s. This transition brings a unique form of isolation that can compromise your leadership.
In this first part of our series with Dr. Anthony Silard, we step away from the logistics and into the Executive Soul. We discuss the profound insights from his work and why the first step in saving your family is stabilizing your own internal motherboard.
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The CEO Perspective: Managing the Isolation ROI
In any organization, "loneliness at the top" is a documented risk. For the kinship caregiver, this loneliness is amplified by the "taboo" nature of our struggle. We are dealing with things our peers in traditional retirement simply don't understand. To lead effectively, you must treat your emotional health as a high-priority business asset.
The Boardroom Brief: Key Insights
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The Social Convoy: Tony introduces the concept of the "Social Convoy"—the circle of people who move through life with us. For many caregivers, this convoy is disrupted. We must intentionally "re-route" our social connections to prevent the "Social Cliff."
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The Power of Presence: Leadership doesn't mean having all the answers; it means being the most grounded person in the room. Stabilizing your own nervous system is the most "Tactical" move you can make for your grandchildren.
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Integrating Suffering: Tony reminds us that while we cannot choose our suffering, we can choose how we integrate it. By moving toward love, we transform our pain into fuel for legacy.
The Toolbox: Tactical Moves
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Perform a Soul Audit: Are you "red-lining" emotionally? Identify one area where the mental load is causing a leak in your resilience.
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Schedule an Executive Retreat: This isn't a vacation; it's a 15-minute daily "system reset." No kids, no chores, no motherboard. Just silence.
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Find Your "Peer Board": Reach out to one other person in the 2.7 Million. Isolation is the enemy of advocacy.
CEO/Host
Host- Host / Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Nurturing Through Adversity podcast.
Laura Brazan is the founder of The 2.7 Million Project and the voice of the Invisible CEO. After trading her own "planned retirement" for the high-stakes mission of kinship care, she now empowers grandparents to reclaim their identity as the chief executives of their family’s future. Laura provides the tactical frameworks and "Executive Soul" required to lead the next generation with resilience, intentionality, and a clear vision.
