[Trauma-Informed] Leadership Uncensored – Details, episodes & analysis

I speak with former union president, Ron Ruggiero, who shares his insight about his new found freedom, the power of the "pause", and the seduction of the achievement hamster wheel. Ron also explains his theory on the individual trauma within both the working class and the labor union movement as well as the link between trauma and economic / racial justice.

"Growing up working class, there is also a stigma about this stuff.  There's a little bit about the working class we gotta be tough,.. we're tougher than them.. there's a whole design and system to send these messages"

After a thirty-year, hard-charging career in the labor movement, Ron Ruggiero left his role as President of SEIU 105 in 2022. A friend recommended he read, “The Body Keeps the Score” by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. For the first time, he learned that he had suffered trauma from his childhood “woke up to” the enormous impact of how his unrecognized and untreated trauma had influenced his leadership, his relationships at work and at home, and his behavior patterns that were unhealthy and harmful. As Ron’s individual healing got underway, he quickly turned curious about how trauma impacts the multi-racial, working-class labor movement as a whole such as organizing collectively, leading democratic unions effectively, and building the solidarity needed to take on the power of concentrated corporations to win an equitable life. Ron believes trauma-awareness is the key to solving the enormous economic, racial, and other disparities in our society. Ron hopes his story and the newness of his healing journey can inspire and help other leaders and members of the working class begin their own healing journeys.

I speak with Matthew Cooke to discuss his story of burnout at the age of 24 and the importance of building trauma-informed teams.

"All the money I was making in this start up, I was pouring it into I'm sorry. I was unsustainable at 24"

Matthew Cooke, partner at Evolution, a coaching, consulting and investment firm, has dedicated his life to ending burnout in tech culture. He is certified in Nervous System Regulation Therapy through Organic Intelligence, and has completed over 1000+ hours in yoga training. Utilizing Evolution's "I, We and It" framework, he helps overwhelmed tech leaders, entrepreneurs, and teams get off the emotional roller coaster of "hustle and grind" culture and have their best day, every day. Some of his clients include leaders at Snapchat, Disney/Pixar, DataEssential, Iterable, SignatureHealth, and My Yoga Online.

Shakespeare once said, 

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” 

Was he correct? Leadership can be very isolating. On one hand, employees shun friendships with their boss because it may result in bias against the them. On the other hand, leaders intentionally self-isolate from employees so they can appraise their performance fairly. Additionally, leaders fail to form social connections and relationships with their peers due to lack of alliances, trust, brutal politics and authoritative cultural norms. 

Join us for the next Leadership Uncensored as we explore loneliness and isolation in leadership roles. Professional Certified Coach Terry Hoffmann shares her perspective on the issue, engagement tips and stories from the field. 

5-Part Special Series on Change
The 5th and Final Podcast on Change: Jake Jacobs helps organizations, teams, and individuals make monumental changes. Over the past 35 years, Jake has worked in 61 industries, from high tech to manufacturing. He has consulted to 96 organizations, from Fortune 50 to national non-profits. He has supported more than 210,000 people directly on important changes to their business. What kinds of changes? Everything from strategy to culture to mergers and acquisitions. 

Jake has partnered with CEOs, front-line workers and change makers in middle management in organizations like Ford, Kraft and Marriott and has also helped create change in the City of New York, U.K.’s National Health Service and the United States Army and Navy. 

 His set of principles work with any system of change you’re using. They turbocharge your work, making it possible to achieve results faster, easier and better than you dreamed possible. They help get more done with less. Less confusion, less time wasted and fewer problems. 

He is always thinking, “To achieve your desired result, what are the few smart actions that will make the biggest difference?”  He’ll get everyone in your organization asking that question. Everyday. Not just talk, but action and results. He is an author of two books, Real Time Strategic Change and You Don’t Have to Do It Alone and a third book released on May  4th entitled, Leverage Change: 8 Ways To Achieve Faster, Easier, Better Results

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Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so could lead to loss of talent, stagnation or, worse, failure.  Change has a starting point (current state) and an end point (future state) and right in the middle are people. Business sectors are still responding to the prolonged COVID crisis, which has impacted—and sometimes traumatized—each member of the workforce in unique ways. Countless stories of toxic work environments and people not being their “best selves” are surfacing in video blogs and HR complaints, to name a couple. Leading dynamic organizations through any type of change is difficult, and it’s even harder when employees are experiencing high levels of emotional distress inside and outside of the workplace. 

5-Part Special Series on Change
4th of 5 Podcasts on Change: Susan Schmitt Winchester is the Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer forApplied Materials, a Fortune 200 company, and its more than 24,000 global employees. She has more than 30 years of experience in HR providing executive leadership most recently at Rockwell Automation and the Kellogg Company. She continually looks to meet today’s global business challenges with creative HR strategies that engage people, support a dynamic, inclusive corporate culture, and enable company exceptional performance. Her passion is teaching and inspiring executives, leaders and professionals how to succeed by discovering greater self-acceptance, fulfillment and joy at work and in life.

Susan is also the author of the book, Healing at Work: A Guide to Using Career Conflicts to Overcome Your Past and Build the Future You Deserve, with Martha I. Finney (available in April 2021). 

Susan is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources—the highest professional honor for leaders in HR. She serves as a Board member for the HR Policy Association (with membership of nearly 400 chief HR officers) and on the Executive Committee of the Peer Roundtable for CHROs (PRT).  She is Vice Chair, Leadership Advisory Board to the Dean of Engineering, College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. And she is a member of the Forbes HR Council.
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Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so could lead to loss of talent, stagnation or, worse, failure.  Change has a starting point (current state) and an end point (future state) and right in the middle are people. Business sectors are still responding to the prolonged COVID crisis, which has impacted—and sometimes traumatized—each member of the workforce in unique ways. Countless stories of toxic work environments and people not being their “best selves” are surfacing in video blogs and HR complaints, to name a couple. Leading dynamic organizations through any type of change is difficult, and it’s even harder when employees are experiencing high levels of emotional distress inside and outside of the workplace. 

5-Part Special Series on Change
3 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Dr. David Dull is an anesthesiologist, certified physician executive and certified executive coach.  He received his Master of Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University.  He is founder of Probitas Healthcare Advisors LLC and Compass Executive Coaching.  He is on the faculty at Georgetown University where he teaches Health Care Leadership.  Using frameworks developed over the course of his career, David has enabled physician leaders to implement strategic initiatives, improve clinical quality, enhance team communication, transition from clinical care to executive roles and advance their careers.  David works with physicians labeled as “disruptive” to help them understand the impact of their behavior and modify their interactions, enabling these individuals to become constructive members of the health care team, with resultant high performance in clinical and administrative arenas. 

Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so could lead to loss of talent, stagnation or, worse, failure.  Change has a starting point (current state) and an end point (future state) and right in the middle are people. Business sectors are still responding to the prolonged COVID crisis, which has impacted—and sometimes traumatized—each member of the workforce in unique ways. Countless stories of toxic work environments and people not being their “best selves” are surfacing in video blogs and HR complaints, to name a couple. Leading dynamic organizations through any type of change is difficult, and it’s even harder when employees are experiencing high levels of emotional distress inside and outside of the workplace. 

5-Part Special Series on Change
1 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Laurie Shakur, aka "Work Mom", and  VP, Head of People for Rakuten, USA & B2B, a Division of Rakuten, Inc., the largest eCommerce company in Japan, and third largest eCommerce company worldwide. Known for Putting the Human Back into Human Resources, she creates inclusive environments that encourage empathy and belonging while getting impactful work done.  

Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so could lead to loss of talent, stagnation or, worse, failure.  Change has a starting point (current state) and an end point (future state) and right in the middle are people. Business sectors are still responding to the prolonged COVID crisis, which has impacted—and sometimes traumatized—each member of the workforce in unique ways. Countless stories of toxic work environments and people not being their “best selves” are surfacing in video blogs and HR complaints, to name a couple. Leading dynamic organizations through any type of change is difficult, and it’s even harder when employees are experiencing high levels of emotional distress inside and outside of the workplace. 

5-Part Special Series on Change
1 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Dave Walter, Prosci Master Instructor and recently retired Director of the Change Management Expertise Center for Dow, Inc., coaching Dow practitioners in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China and throughout the US and Europe.

Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so could lead to loss of talent, stagnation or, worse, failure.  Change has a starting point (current state) and an end point (future state) and right in the middle are people. Business sectors are still responding to the prolonged COVID crisis, which has impacted—and sometimes traumatized—each member of the workforce in unique ways. Countless stories of toxic work environments and people not being their “best selves” are surfacing in video blogs and HR complaints, to name a couple. Leading dynamic organizations through any type of change is difficult, and it’s even harder when employees are experiencing high levels of emotional distress inside and outside of the workplace. 

Organizational politics are normal organization attributes and navigating internal politics is a necessary leadership skill for selling ideas and influencing others with diverse interests without compromising your integrity or the organization’s values. There is evidence that if used skillfully and transparently, organizational politics can assist leaders in negotiating difficult workplace situations and advancing strategy. On the other hand, a leader’s inability to navigate the political “system”, the dirty power plays and the constant undermining of colleagues and subordinates for personal gain, can make or break their career. 

Join us for the next Leadership Uncensored as we explore the Dark Underbelly of Organizational Politics. Three expert leaders will share their own dysfunctional political encounters, discuss [submitted] “stories from the field” and provide wisdom to both seasoned and aspiring leaders. 

• Shailushi Baxie Ritchie, Founder & CEO, Sevah Consulting
• Arthur Padilla, Senior Managing Partner, Strategy Works
• Rob Meiksins, Co-Founder, Board President, & Facilitator, Nonprofit Academy of Wisconsin

We need emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership now more than ever. The outdated coercive style of leading and managing people is out.

Emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership is an approach that acknowledges there is an emotional world of experiences that runs deep within each of us. When these emotional responses are triggered in the workplace, each person responds according to the extent of their emotional scars, traumas and emotional strengths.

 Rather than creating a tinderbox workplace culture that asks, 

“What’s wrong with you?” 

We should be asking,

 “What happened to you?” 

What matters to you?”

“What can we accomplish together?”

Join the next episode of LEADERSHIP UNCENSORED with guests Kathryn Thomas and Jarik Conrad as we discuss how organizations are transitioning away from the coercive "iron fist" style of leadership and embracing emotional intelligence and trauma-informed leadership.