Trauma-Informed Leadership

Originally posted on Linkedin Feb 10, 2022

Over the last few years, two topics have become more prevalent in conversations with organizations and individual leaders: mental health and trauma. Although different, they are interlinked because both affect our leadership behaviors and both are heavily stigmatized.

You might be thinking, "These conversations don't belong at work."

While I understand this belief and even used to agree, I now see how leaders are playing out their own traumas at work. Combined with their authority, the behaviors of an unconscious leader can be devastatingly toxic.

Many of these leaders have positive intentions and are unaware of how their actions (and inactions!) are affecting their organization. Luckily, more people are opening up to their weaknesses and accepting that everyone (including themselves) has a story that can stir your heart.

Not all traumas are "Trauma" with a capital-T. We do not need to have been violated or witnessed a horrific event for our nervous system to embed the painful memories in our bodies. Most are seemingly little events such as moving a lot, being excluded from birthday parties, the death of a pet, or working 80-hr weeks for a month.

When we ignore the reality of our past traumas and expect that we must be strong and positive at work, we deprive our employees of their humanity. Being human means that we have a nervous system that sometimes behaves counter to our rational mind. It means that we sense danger when we are in fact safe and experience irrational feelings and unexpected reactions to mundane triggers.

The Data

I probably don't know you or your organization. Still, I can guarantee you this much about your organizational makeup:

• 1 out of 5 of your employees is experiencing a diagnosable mental illness (1)

• > 40% of your people have symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder (2)

• 1 out of every 6 started therapy for the first time in 2020, joining the 33% that have already worked with a therapist (3)

• 61% of your team has experienced at least one adverse childhood experience and 16% has experienced four or more (4). ACEs occur when children 0-17 years old experience or witness violence, abuse, neglect, substance abuse, mental illness, death, or home-life instability.

• 85% of women in your organization have experienced sexual assault (5)

• 43% of men have experienced sexual assault and/or harassment (5)

• 20% of your self-identified female employees have experienced completed or attempted rape (6)

• 53% are saying that their work or work environment negatively impacts their mental health. (7)

Our Workplaces Are Not Exempt

The number of working adults who are living with mental health issues or have lived through potentially-traumatic events is astounding. Our businesses are not exempt from the effects of difficult pasts or from mental health issues.

Even worse, we are creating more pain through unintentionally traumatic workplace situations that have the potential for mental and emotional harm. This includes being fired, witnessing a colleague being yelled at, constant changes to strategic objectives, a boss leveraging their authority to make you act against your morals, and many more. Many of these situations are perceived as commonplace and brushed over or ignored as "just how the world works."

Our organizations are falling behind. Already, we see interest and training around trauma-informed teachers (education) and trauma-informed caregivers (medicine). It is not our actions that are hurting us, but our ignorance and accompanying silence.

Another burnout. Another disengaged employee. Another interpersonal conflict. Just another day at the office, right?

If we are to get through the challenges ahead as one united humanity, I believe we need to muster the courage to speak up when we see wrongdoing.

A Path Through the Chaos

I get it. This terrain is messy, uncomfortable, and confusing to navigate.

Still, I believe it's possible to move the needle by training our managers to become scouts for organizational wellbeing. Armed with the knowledge of trauma-informed managers, they can bravely help to calm the collective nervous system.

Trauma-Informed Leaders . . .

1. Know what trauma is. Trauma occurs when our nervous system is overwhelmed. Some experts say it correlates to an event that is "too much," "too fast," or "too soon" for our bodies and brains to integrate. Our body becomes stuck in the experience long after that experience has ended, and we carry the residual effects with us into new settings and experiences.

2. Spot trauma in their teams. This can show up as an explosive emotional outburst or as silence and disengagement. The manager can also identify chronic stress and burnout in their teams and colleagues. Even further, the manager is aware of collective trauma, such as the effect of war, natural disasters, and systemic racism/sexism/etc on their employees.

3. Know the basics of Self and Co-Regulation. After identifying trauma, the manager can initiate informed interventions that strategically calm the nervous system. Interventions include breathing exercises, sitting in silence, journaling, meditating, or 1:1 conversations, to name a few.

4. Hold space for conversations that matter. These conversations center around topics of race, identity, mental illness, death, violence, and other aspects of collective and individual trauma.

5. Listen with care and without judgment. Although a boss is not a therapist, speaking with someone who will listen with care and without judgment is therapeutic. It also serves as a lifeline for the employee to find solid ground and seek professional help if they choose.

As a baseline, I hope your organization provides informed access to mental health professionals. Beyond that, we do not need to be trained therapists to be trauma-informed. Everyone can benefit from the knowledge.

If this is relevant to your and your organization, please get in touch. I would sincerely love to share my research findings with you.

Thank you for reading,

Songya Kesler