Executive coach and sabbatical guide Elandria Jackson Charles makes the case that a leader stepping away for three months is not a perk. It is an investment in organizational resilience.
In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Elandria, founder of Ayoka Partners, to talk about sabbatical care and what changes when rest is built into the structure instead of left to the individual.
Elandria grew up an only child outside Atlanta, raised by parents from Macon whose sacrifices never added up on paper. She was a junior Olympic champion at 12, running the 200 and the 400, and she was also throwing up before races. She quit track before college and lost the identity that came with it. Perfectionism carried her for years after that, until burnout and her second child arrived together. That is when she bet on herself and built Ayoka Partners. Ayoka is Yoruba for one who causes joy, and it was her original middle name.
Ron brings a sports analogy. When a paid athlete goes down, the organization rehabs them, because getting that player back on the court matters to the team. The social impact sector calls itself a team sport and structurally plays an individual one. Elandria asks how we perceive injury when there is no limp, when a leader is answering every email and going home a shell of herself. A sabbatical, she says, shows you your leadership bench fast, and funders have a role in making one possible.
Tune in to hear why Elandria says slowing down actually accelerates you, and what a yellow smiley face sticker in the shower drain has to do with joy.
Chapters:
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02:40 Elandria Jackson Charles checked every box and still lost herself
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07:40 A junior Olympic title at 12 and vomiting before races
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24:27 Rest hygiene, and asking what fuel supports her dreams today
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34:32 A sabbatical shows you who is actually on your leadership bench
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36:34 Social impact says team sport and structurally plays an individual one
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38:34 The injured leader with no limp, still answering every email
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40:32 Joy is micro: a smiley face sticker in the shower drain
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44:39 The Rondering: pausing unlocks possibility, and slowing down accelerates you
Links:
Connect with Elandria Jackson Charles on LinkedIn to learn more about sabbatical care and her work supporting leaders, especially Black women leaders, to pause and come back with clarity. Her free newsletter, The Sabbatical Moment, is where she writes about the smaller sabbatical moments you can build into an ordinary Thursday.
Episode 111
