The R & R Newsletter: The Room’s Not Broken. It’s Just Out of Breath.
How to restore energy without the false high of urgency.
Maritza S. Campo, Ph.D.
October 23, 2025
This week’s R&R is for anyone who’s been holding it all together so long that they’ve stopped noticing what still wants their light. ✨
SEEN & NAMED: When Everyone’s There but No One’s There
You know that meeting—screens glowing, heads nodding, but no spark.
The updates land, yet the room falls flat.
I saw it again last week on the job—a brilliant team so tired they couldn’t feel the progress they’d made. The team wasn’t broken; they were just out of breath.
Energy doesn’t return through escape. It returns through attention—seeing what still works and naming what’s quietly dimmed.
Not more breaks. More sight.
INSIGHT + SHIFT → Say What You See
When the room feels off, don’t gloss over it.
“Something’s heavy here. What do we actually need right now?”
You’re not fixing—you’re noticing.
That’s how energy starts to move again. In rooms like these, leadership isn’t louder, it’s clearer.
Before your next 1:1, pause. You’re walking into a moment, not a spreadsheet.
Energy travels through connection, not compliance.
Consider ending one meeting with, “What felt good about how we showed up today?”
Recognition lifts energy faster than strategy ever will.
TOOLS & PRACTICE
🕰 Protect Peace — 15 minutes with no agenda isn’t a luxury—it’s oxygen. Guard it.
💬 Meeting Reframe — “Let’s pause. What part of this still feels worth our energy?”
🧭 Energy Grid — Track what drains your focus, what restores your spark, and one shift to test this week. Small course corrections compound.
🌿 End-of-Week Reflection — “Where did energy move? Where will you direct it next week?”
LEADERSHIP REFILL & RESET
Mirror: Notice what’s waiting for your light—the overlooked detail, the quiet colleague, the next right question. Don’t blame yourself for missing it; noticing is the first act of care.
Move: Turn toward it. Give it presence before you give it instruction. Ask, “What might this need to come alive again?”
What you illuminate, you restore.
I’ve led from that same space. Holding the room together while my own focus scattered. What helped wasn’t a new tactic; it was remembering to look up and really see the people in front of me.
IDENTITY RETURN
Energy isn’t hype.
It’s quiet influence and the warmth that says, I still believe in what we’re building.
When you bring that kind of energy into the room, people remember why the work matters. And when you do, they rise to meet it.
 | Leading alongside you, Maritza Salazar Campo, PhD  |
