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What if we stopped treating trauma like a forbidden topic and started treating it like a leadership skill set?

That’s the spark for a candid, practical conversation with physician and public health expert Kemia Sarraf on how to show up for others—and ourselves—when life overwhelms.

We unpack a core distinction that changes everything: traumatic stress exposure is inevitable; trauma is what happens inside us afterward. That gap is where agency lives.

We talk about why two people can share the same moment and walk away affected in very different ways, and how good intentions can still cause harm when we rush to fix, offer platitudes, or go silent. The alternative is deceptively simple: presence over prescription. Admit uncertainty. Replace grand gestures with small, steady check-ins that actually land.

The throughline is hopeful and actionable: capacity can be built, leaders can protect their teams without losing themselves, and organizations can reduce burnout, turnover, and moral injury with trauma‑responsive practices.

Kemia Sarraf is a doctor, public health expert, founder of Lodestar, and a thought leader on the impact of traumatic stress exposure on professionals and first responders. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services

Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

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What if compassion without boundaries is the very thing burning leaders out? We sit down with organizational psychologist and executive coach Kathryn McEwen to unpack resilience at work as a living system.

Kathryn leads the Working with Resilience Consortium and helped develop the Resilience at Work Toolkit, and she brings stories that reveal why good intentions often backfire—and how to course-correct.

We start with a reframing: resilience isn’t something you have or don’t. It’s a state shaped by resources like purpose, aligned values, strong relationships, and simple, consistent self-care.

Then we dig into the messy middle of leadership: when optimism energizes people versus when it reads as tone-deaf, how a leader’s mood sets the room, and why calibrating ambition to the team’s bandwidth preserves morale.

If you’re leading through change, short on headcount, or trying to balance inclusion with consistency, this conversation offers practical language, mindset shifts, and boundary scripts you can use today.

Kathryn McEwen is a speaker, organisational psychologist, executive coach and mediator with more than 35 years of consulting experience across all industry sectors. She has special expertise in workplace resilience, having authored three books on the topic and led the development of the R@W Toolkit. Kathryn has a strong evidence-base to her work as she collaborates with the University of South Australia through lecturing, student placements, applied research and membership of advisory committees.

Website: Working with Resilience

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Support the show

__________

Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services

Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

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Real care at work isn’t about saying yes to everything. It is about designing a culture where people can struggle together and still deliver.

We brought Pete Turner, partner and senior executive coach at 2B Limitless, to talk about how teams can be genuinely compassionate without "compassioning" themselves out of business. From the pains of fast growth pains to real-world HR dilemmas, Pete walks us through the tradeoffs leaders face and the choices that keep a company healthy enough to support people when life hits hard.

We discuss the hidden pressures managers face and why these team members are often the most stressed layer of any organization. Pete shares two practical mindset flips that change everything under pressure:

• Move from telling to coaching.
• Shift from fixing weaknesses to amplifying strengths.

These moves build autonomy, mastery, and belonging, which strengthen resilience and performance. We also address the stubborn knowing–doing gap—why we ignore good advice even when it’s obvious—and how to close it with small, repeatable habits that survive busy seasons.

If you’re a leader trying to balance empathy and execution, or an individual seeking to build genuine resilience without burning out, this conversation offers practical tools, honest stories, and a path forward.

Pete Turner is a keynote speaker and partner, senior executive coach and keynote speaker for 2b Limitless an executive coaching and leadership development organization. He is the head of coach training and accreditation and the author and creator of the APC, one of the ICF’s most exciting and transformative coach education and certification programs.

He specializes in the behavioural economics of high-performing individuals, teams, and organizations. And his focus is to create 21st century learning experiences that are scientifically rigorous, inquiry-based, formally certified, interactive, and fun.

Learn more about Peter on LinkedIn.

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
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Support the show

__________

Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity. Learn more: www.manyachylinski.com/services

Subscribe to the newsletter: manyachylinski.com/notes

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor