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When Life Disrupts Work

The Leader’s Guide for Supporting People Through Their Hardest Moments

When life disrupts work, leaders need to know what to do next. This practical guide shows leaders at organizations of every size, from small businesses to large corporations, how to support employees through hard moments while strengthening trust across the workplace.

This is the book to read before the crisis happens, so you can respond with confidence, care, and clarity when it does.

Abstract floral design from Nataliya Boychenko Stone’s logo, featuring vibrant magenta, yellow, orange, and green petals. Symbolizes the benefits of positive organization support during an employee’s life transitions.

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Author proceeds from the sale of When Life Disrupts Workwill be donated to ChildServe, a charitable organization that provides specialized pediatric healthcare and support to more than 6,000 children and young adults each year with developmental delays, disabilities, injuries, and other special healthcare needs. 

When a child is facing a serious health challenge, the impact reaches far beyond the child. Parents and caregivers carry that experience with them into every part of their lives, including work. When Life Disrupts Work was written to help leaders know how to respond when those difficult moments enter the workplace.

Learn more about ChildServe at www.childserve.org.

Praise for When Life Disrupts Work

  • “Boychenko Stone shows us that compassion is not a soft skill but a leadership discipline with real consequences for trust, loyalty, and performance.”

    Raj Sisodia
    Cofounder of Conscious Capitalism, Inc., and coauthor of The Healing Organization and Everybody Matters

  • “This book offers practical guidance for leading others through life’s most difficult moments while reinforcing the accountability that strong organizations depend on.”

    Johnny C. Taylor Jr.
    President and CEO, SHRM, and author of RESET

  • “When Life Disrupts Work is a long-overdue, intellectually delivered reminder to all leaders that we must care for and develop our workers.”

    Michael M. Crow
    President, Arizona State University

  • “Boychenko Stone thoughtfully provides every leader with practical touchpoints to respond with dignity, compassion, and grace when employees need it most.”

    Miriam Erickson Brown
    Chair and CEO, AE Dairy

  • “When Life Disrupts Work shows leaders how supporting people through their hardest moments builds the trust and culture that make organizations stronger.”

    Dan Keough
    Chairman and CEO, Holmes Murphy

  • "Every leader should have this book — before they need it!"

    Suku Radia
    Former CEO, Bankers Trust

  • "When Life Disrupts Work fills that gap with clarity and depth by drawing on rigorous research and real stories to offer a roadmap that is both deeply compassionate and refreshingly practical."

    Carolina Gil
    HR Leader and Executive Coach

Tell me more…

Life disruptions do not stay outside the workplace. Grief, illness, caregiving, divorce, infertility, and other major life events shape how people show up at work, yet most organizations still do not prepare leaders for these moments. Even caring managers can freeze, unsure what to say, how to help, or how to balance support with team needs.

The challenge is not whether a life disruption will affect your team. It is when. The leaders who build trust in difficult moments are the ones who prepare before those moments arrive.

Drawing on original PhD research, interviews with employees and leaders, and nearly two decades of experience advising employers on benefits and workplace strategy, Dr. Nataliya Boychenko Stone gives leaders a practical guide for responding with confidence and care.

She shows readers how to:

  • understand what support an employee actually needs,

  • connect people with the right workplace resources,

  • adjust work with clarity and flexibility,

  • stay present after the first crisis moment, and

  • support employees while maintaining accountability.

This practical framework helps managers, HR professionals, and organizational leaders navigate life's most challenging moments at work while strengthening trust, loyalty, and performance across their teams.

Publication Date: April 20, 2027

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Nataliya Boychenko Stone’s professional photo smiling, wearing a knee-length magenta and white floral and swirl pattern dress. She believes strategy and empathy belong in the same conversation.
Flower from Nataliya Boychenko Stone’s logo, featuring vibrant magenta, yellow, orange, and green petals. Symbolizes how her book, The Leadership Blindside, will turn life’s disruptions into opportunities of trust, loyalty and growth.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Nataliya Boychenko Stone

A lifelong learner and leader, Nataliya believes empathy and strategy belong in the same conversation. Born and raised in Ukraine, she brings a deep belief in resilience, purpose, and care to everything she does.

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