The Leadership Approach That Reduces Harm and Drives Real Results
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I recently became certified as a Trauma Informed Workplace Practitioner through The Wounded Workforce (https://www.thewoundedworkforce.com), a company run by fellow Trooper Stephanie Lemek.
As a coach and HR leader, and someone who lives with anxiety and depression, I’m pretty attuned to the unique needs of workers. I’m also old(er), so I clearly remember the days of no crying in the office and “you’re lucky to have a job” leadership. We’ve come so far! Why did I feel the need to expand beyond my experience and empathy?
Because trauma, stress, adversity, and overwhelm are real — and far more present in our workplaces than most leadership models acknowledge. Because life feels harder and the workforce is changing at a velocity most leadership models weren’t built for. We should be educated on how to support our employees to be great despite the reality that life…is hard. Since no one is handing out humanity instruction manuals, there are frameworks and certifications, and I am here for it. Frameworks help create environments where employees are likely to be seen, heard, and cared for, and less likely to be harmed or re-traumatized.
Understanding trauma informed leadership helps me deliver on that premise. Here’s a summary of what I wish I knew before I stepped into leadership many years ago. I hope it helps another leader understand their role at the intersection of trauma and leadership.
Trauma-informed leadership means understanding that people’s behavior at work is shaped by stress, threat, trust, power, and lived experience — and then leading in ways that create safety, clarity, choice, accountability, and repair.
It’s not! Psychological safety is often about whether people feel safe to speak up, take risks, admit mistakes, and challenge ideas. Trauma-informed leadership goes a layer deeper and asks: What conditions create or erode safety in the first place?
Why does this matter? Because when people feel unsafe, uncertain, powerless, or mistrustful, they do not do their best thinking. They protect, react, withdraw, comply, resist, or burn out. Trauma-informed leadership helps reduce unnecessary threat so people can stay engaged in hard work.
Does this mean I’m responsible for my employee’s mental health? No, it doesn’t. You aren’t diagnosing or treating employees. You are recognizing that people’s behavior, trust, engagement, conflict responses, and capacity for change are often shaped by lived experience, stress, threat, identity, and power.
The boundary matters. Trauma-informed leadership does not ask leaders to process an employee’s trauma story or solve their problems. It asks them to notice the conditions they are creating: Is this clear? Is it fair? Is there choice where choice is possible? Is accountability being handled with dignity?
The simplest approach is awareness and asking questions. This is not an exact science, but here are my top go-to questions when facing an employee situation:
As an HR leader, you may want to implement trauma informed leadership as a tenet of your leadership culture. That would likely involve the usual audit, needs assessment, business case and buy-in, and measurement.
Simply put, everywhere. But here are some key organizational moments where trauma informed practice can make things better:
In change management: How do we reduce uncertainty and increase agency?
In employee relations: How do we hold accountability without humiliation?
In performance management: How do we make expectations clear, timely, and fair?
In manager coaching: How do we help leaders understand power and impact?
In DEIB: How do we recognize that people experience safety, authority, and trust differently?
In restructures or layoffs: How do we preserve dignity when the news is hard?
Be clear.
Be predictable.
Offer choice where possible.
Name what you know and what you don’t.
Invite voice before decisions are final.
Repair quickly.
Hold accountability without humiliation.
Being trauma-informed does not mean lowering expectations, avoiding accountability, or becoming someone’s therapist. It is a highly strategic way to conduct business to encourage the best work and best experiences for your team.
With a strong framework and enough self-awareness, we can model trauma-informed leadership behaviors that positively affect our communities, inside and outside of work. We are responsible for how we show up with one another. Being trauma-informed helps me lead with that responsibility in mind.
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