Leading Through Change: A Trauma-Informed Approach | Your Trauma Wise Career Guide Ep 29

What if the very experience of surviving trauma has given you exactly what you need to lead others through organizational change?

In this episode, we're exploring trauma-informed change management – and why trauma survivors often make the most effective change leaders. If you've ever felt like your heightened awareness of how change impacts people makes you "too sensitive" for leadership, this conversation will completely shift your perspective.

We'll talk about:
* Why your trauma-developed pattern recognition is a strategic advantage in change initiatives
* The hidden costs of traditional change management that ignores nervous system responses
* How to create psychological safety during organizational transitions
* Reading the room in ways that prevent resistance and build genuine buy-in
* Leading change at a pace that honors human capacity without sacrificing momentum
* The difference between managing change and facilitating transformation

Whether you're leading a small team through a process shift or steering an entire organization through major transformation, understanding the neurobiology of change will make you a more effective, compassionate, and strategic leader.

This isn't about making change "soft" – it's about making it sustainable. When you honor how humans actually process and adapt to change, you get better outcomes, stronger teams, and lasting transformation instead of performative compliance.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Introduction: Your trauma wisdom as a change leadership advantage
2:15 - Why traditional change management fails
5:30 - Understanding the neurobiology of organizational change
9:45 - Reading resistance as information, not opposition
13:20 - Creating psychological safety during transitions
17:40 - Pacing change initiatives for sustainable transformation
21:15 - Communication strategies that honor nervous system responses
25:30 - Building change resilience in your team
28:45 - Call to action: Download your free leadership guide

Ready to take your trauma-informed leadership to the next level? Download our free Trauma-Informed Leadership Quick Reference Guide at https://resilientcareeracademy.myflodesk.com/timqrg

About Your Trauma Wise Career Guide:
This podcast is for trauma survivors who are ready to transform their healing journey into professional strength. Each week, we explore trauma-informed approaches to career development, leadership, and workplace success – because your experience of healing has given you insights that workplaces desperately need.

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your career journey:

1. Free trauma-informed career development resources from my website! Visit https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com for always up-to-date tips.
2. Ready to build a fulfilling career with trauma-informed support? Join The Resilient Career Academy Learning Community, where trauma survivors support each other, share resources, and develop career resilience in a safe, understanding environment
3. Ready for personalized trauma-informed career coaching? Explore my range of virtual coaching packages designed for different stages of your career journey. Visit my website to find the right support for where you are now. [Visit my website: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com/1-on-1-coaching]

DISCLOSURE: Some links I share might contain resources that you might find helpful. Whenever possible I use referral links, which means if you click any of the links in this video or description and make a purchase we may receive a small commission or other compensation at no cost to you.

Transcript

Leading Through Change: A Trauma-Informed Approach | Your Trauma Wise Career Guide Ep 29

Cyndi: [00:00:00] If you've ever been called too sensitive about how change is being rolled out at work. What if I told you that sensitivity is actually your strategic advantage as a change leader?

Did you know that trauma impacts how we navigate our careers, but most career advice ignores this reality? Imagine feeling confident and safe at work while honoring your healing journey. Welcome to Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide, the podcast that reimagines career development for trauma survivors. I'm your host, Cyndi Bennett, a trauma survivor, turned trauma informed career coach and founder of the Resilient Career Academy. If you're navigating your career while honoring your healing journey, you are in the right place.

Healing from trauma has given you exactly the skills our workplaces need most. Today we're talking about something that makes [00:01:00] or breaks organizations, leading through change. And here's what's fascinating. Trauma survivors often make the most effective change leaders precisely because of what you've survived, not in spite of it.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed watching change initiatives crash and burn because leaders didn't account for how humans actually process transition... if you've noticed resistance building in your team, but couldn't quite articulate why... If you know there has to be a better way to lead change that doesn't leave people traumatized in its wake... This is the episode for you.

Let's start with what most of us experienced: traditional change management approaches that treat humans like logical machines who just need the right information to update their programming.

You've probably sat through those all hands meetings where leadership announces major [00:02:00] changes with a polished presentation, expects everyone to be excited, and then acts confused when people resist or performance drops.

Here's what traditional change management misses: change is not a cognitive process, it's a nervous system experience.

When you announce organizational change, you're not just communicating new information. You're potentially triggering threat responses in people's nervous systems, and if you don't account for that, all your beautiful change management frameworks won't matter.

Think about it. When change happens at work, what are people really asking underneath their stated concerns? Am I safe? Can I trust you? Will I still belong here? Do I have what it takes to succeed in this new version? Will this change hurt me?

These are nervous [00:03:00] system questions, not strategy questions, and here's where your trauma developed awareness becomes invaluable.

You know what it feels like when your nervous system perceives threat. You understand the difference between cognitive acceptance and embodied safety. You've learned to read the subtle signs of dysregulation in yourself and others. That's not oversensitivity. That's strategic intelligence.

Let's talk about what's actually happening in people's brains and bodies when organizational change occurs.

 When change is announced, especially unexpected or significant change, the amygdala, our threat detection system activates. This happens before the prefrontal cortex, our logical thinking brain, even gets the message.

So while leadership is presenting a logical case for why this change is necessary and [00:04:00] beneficial, people's nervous systems are running threat assessments. Is this change going to harm me? What will I lose? Can I handle this? If the answer to those threat assessments is, I don't know, or maybe not.

People's nervous systems move into protection mode, and here's what's crucial: Protection mode looks like resistance, but it's actually a nervous system response, trying to keep people safe.

Now, if you've done your trauma recovery work, you intimately understand this process. You know what it's like when your nervous system hijacks your logical brain. You've learned to recognize activation in your body before it becomes overwhelming. You've developed strategies for staying present and regulated even when threat signals are firing. 

That experience translates directly to understanding what's happening in your team during organizational [00:05:00] change.

 Traditional change management often treats resistance as something to overcome or push through. But trauma-informed change leadership recognizes resistance as valuable information about what safety needs aren't being met.

When someone resists change, they're usually not being difficult-- they're communicating something important about their experience of the change process. Maybe they're saying, this pace is too fast for me to integrate, or I don't have enough information to feel safe making this transition, or I don't trust that my needs will be considered in this new structure, or I'm afraid I'll lose something important to me.

Your trauma-developed pattern recognition helps you read these underlying messages. You've learned to notice the person who suddenly goes quiet in meetings, the [00:06:00] team member whose performance drops right after change announcements, the colleague who's asking excessive clarifying questions, the subtle shift in team energy and collaboration.

Where others might miss these signals or dismiss them as people being difficult, you recognize them as nervous system responses to perceived threat. This awareness allows you to address the actual issue rather than just managing the surface level resistance.

So how do you create psychological safety during organizational change? This is where understanding trauma informed principles become your practical toolkit.

First, predictability and transparency reduce threat responses. When people know what to expect, their nervous systems can relax enough to engage with the change process. This means: clear [00:07:00] communication about what's changing and what's staying the same-- honest timelines, even when the timeline is, we don't know yet-- regular updates even when there's no new information-- acknowledging uncertainty rather than pretending everything is certain.

Second choice and control matter enormously. When people have some agency in how change affects them, their nervous systems move from threat response to engagement.

This might look like: options for how to implement changes within guidelines, input on timelines and processes where possible, choices about training and support resources, voice in shaping how change affects their specific role.

Third, connection and belonging provide nervous system regulation during uncertainty. When people feel [00:08:00] connected to others going through the change, they can co-regulate together.

This includes creating spaces for people to process their responses together, acknowledging the emotional experience of change, not just the logistical aspects, building in peer support and shared problem solving, maintaining team rituals and connection points during transitions.

Notice what all of these strategies have in common? They honor how human nervous systems actually work, rather than expecting people to override their biology with logic.

Here's something that separates trauma-informed change leadership from traditional approaches: understanding the difference between the pace of announcement and the pace of integration.

You can announce change quickly. You cannot integrate it quickly. Integration requires nervous [00:09:00] systems to process threat responses, update existing mental models, build new neural pathways, practice new behaviors until they become automatic, grieve what's being lost, develop competence and confidence in the new way.

This takes time, not because people are slow or resistant, but because that's how human learning and adaptation actually work. Your trauma recovery has taught you this intimately. You know you can intellectually understand something long before you can embody it. You've experienced the frustration of your prefrontal cortex being on board, while your nervous system is still running old protective patterns. This gives you patience and realistic expectations that many leaders lack.

Trauma-informed change Leadership means building in adequate time for integration, [00:10:00] not just implementation, recognizing that going slower often means arriving faster, celebrating small shifts rather than expecting immediate transformation, adjusting pace based on how people are actually managing, not just the project timeline.

Let's get practical about communication during change. How you communicate matters as much as what you communicate.

When someone's nervous system is activated, their capacity for processing complex information decreases dramatically. Their prefrontal cortex essentially goes offline and the survival brain takes over. This means your beautifully crafted email explaining the strategic rationale for change might literally not be processed if someone is in threat response when they read it.

Trauma informed communication during [00:11:00] change includes: regulation first, information second. Before diving into details, acknowledge the emotional experience. I know this announcement might bring up a lot of feelings. That's completely normal. Let's take a moment before we get into details.

Repeat key information multiple times in multiple formats. People in activated states need information repeated. This isn't because they're not listening, it's because their nervous systems are processing threat and can't fully encode new information.

Use simple concrete language. When nervous systems are activated, abstract or complex, language becomes harder to process. Get clear and specific about what's actually changing and what isn't.

Make [00:12:00] space for questions and concerns without defending. When people express concerns, they're not attacking you. They're trying to assess safety. Defensive responses increase threat; curious, open responses, help regulate.

Acknowledge what you don't know. Pretending certainty when there isn't any actually increases anxiety. I don't know yet, and here's when we'll have more information, builds trust.

Here's something powerful: you're not just managing one change. You are building your team's capacity to navigate future changes effectively.

Every change initiative is an opportunity to teach your team that change doesn't have to be traumatic, their nervous system responses are normal and welcomed, safety and transformation can coexist, they have the resources to adapt and [00:13:00] grow.

This is exactly what you've learned through your own healing journey. You've discovered that you can hold both the reality of past trauma, and your capacity for growth. You've learned that safety and challenge can coexist. You've developed resilience, not by avoiding difficulty, but by learning to navigate it with adequate support.

Building resilience in your team means: normalizing nervous system responses to change. Help people understand that their reactions are biology, not weakness. When people know their responses are normal, they don't add shame to activation.

Teaching regulation strategies explicitly. Don't assume people know how to manage their stress responses. Offer concrete tools for regulation during transition periods.

Creating rituals and routines during change. Maintaining some [00:14:00] predictability helps nervous systems stay regulated, even as other things shift.

Celebrating adaptation wins. Acknowledge not just the outcomes, but the process of navigating change itself.

Modeling your own navigation of change. Let people see that you are also managing the transition, not just immune to its effects.

Let's come back to why you specifically are positioned to be an exceptional change leader.

Your experience with trauma has given you: pattern recognition that detects early warning signs before resistance becomes entrenched. You notice the subtle shifts in team dynamics, energy and engagement that signal nervous system activation.

Empathy rooted in your own experience of overwhelm and recovery. You remember what it's like to feel like you can't handle one more [00:15:00] thing. This helps you pace change realistically.

Comfort with discomfort and uncertainty. You've sat with difficult emotions and unknown outcomes in your healing journey. This gives you capacity to stay present with others' discomfort during change.

Understanding that safety and growth aren't opposites. You know from experience that people grow most effectively when they feel safe enough to take risks.

Sophisticated assessment of what's truly threatening versus what feels threatening. Your trauma recovery has taught you to distinguish between actual danger and familiar, but safe discomfort.

Commitment to creating environments where people can bring their whole selves. You know, the cost of having to mask or pretend, so you build cultures that allow authenticity.

These aren't just [00:16:00] nice leadership qualities, there's strategic advantages that lead to faster adoption of changes, less resistance and drama, higher retention during transitions, stronger team cohesion, more sustainable outcomes, better performance throughout the change process.

So where do you start if you want to bring more trauma-informed awareness to your change leadership? Begin by noticing your own nervous system responses to change initiatives you are leading. What activates you? What helps you regulate? This self-awareness is the foundation.

Next, start reading team dynamics through a nervous system lens. Instead of just noting that someone is resistant, ask yourself what might their nervous system be responding to? What safety need isn't being met?

Practice making [00:17:00] space for emotional responses to change without trying to fix or minimize them. Sometimes people just need to be heard and acknowledged before they can move forward.

Build in more time than you think you need. Your timeline should account for integration, not just implementation, and...

Communicate, communicate, communicate. Overcommunication is almost impossible during change. What feels like repetition to you is reassuring predictability to nervous system's processing transition.

Leading change through a trauma-informed lens isn't about making things easier or slower; it's about making change sustainable, effective, and ultimately more successful. 

When you honor how human nervous systems actually process transition, you get less resistance, faster true [00:18:00] adoption, stronger teams, better outcomes, more trust, lasting transformation instead of performative compliance.

Your experience surviving and healing from trauma has given you exactly the wisdom needed to lead others through organizational change with both compassion and strategic effectiveness.

That heightened awareness you might have been told makes you too sensitive, that's your superpower. Use it.

If you are ready to deepen your trauma-informed leadership skills, I've created a free resource just for you, the Trauma-Informed Leadership Quick Reference Guide. This guide gives you practical frameworks for recognizing nervous system responses in yourself and your team, creating psychological safety in high pressure situations, communication strategies for difficult conversations, [00:19:00] building change resilience in your organization and more.

You can find the link to download your free copy in the show notes. Because the world needs leaders who understand that sustainable change honors human neurobiology, not just business strategy, and you're exactly the leader we need.

Thanks for listening to your Trauma Wise Career Guide. If this episode resonated with you, share it with another trauma survivor who's stepping into leadership. And I'll see you next week for another conversation about transforming your healing journey into professional strength.

Until next time, take gentle care.

You're not walking this path alone. Every step you take toward a trauma-wise career is an act of courage, and I'm here cheering you on. If today's episode resonated with you, share it with another survivor who [00:20:00] needs to hear this message. Together we're rewriting the rules of career success. Keep rising, keep healing, keep building.