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What happens when the crisis is no longer in the news?

We dig into that uneasy stretch when calendars fill back up and leaders feel the urge to get back to normal. And why that push can cause mistrust and leave people alone with their pain. Drawing from a survivor-informed lens, we unpack how disruption changes beliefs, expectations, and bodies.

We walk through the invisible pressures that drive speed—boards, customers, metrics, our own fear of mishandling—and contrast them with what actually steadies a culture: naming reality, defining functioning, and setting a shared pace. You’ll hear clear, practical ways to reset priorities without sounding cold, including which deadlines to move, which meetings matter, and how to offer real flexibility. We also equip managers, the crucial translation layer, with simple check-in language and decision guardrails so care and accountability can live side by side.

Instead of treating dips in capacity as moral failings, learn to read them as signals to adjust workloads and support. 

This is steady leadership: Guiding people through a changed reality with clarity and care. If you’re feeling the pull to move fast, pause with us, rethink your defaults, and choose the kind of steadiness that protects both people and results. 

Subscribe, share with a colleague who leads under pressure, and leave a review with one shift you’ll make this week.

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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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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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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.

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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

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

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Ever wish you had a steady rhythm to move you through doubt, fatigue, and fear? 

We sit down with Shaun Murphy—Mr. Motivation—to explore how a veteran turned educator, musician, and author uses leadership and motivation to transform pain into power. Sean shares the core lessons from the Army: leaders provide purpose, direction, and motivation, and trust is built by keeping your word even when it’s hard. From running large teams to teaching in classrooms, he shows how empathy and consistency inspire people to go further than they thought possible.

This conversation digs into the heart of resilience: reframing setbacks, finding meaning at your own pace, and stacking small wins until self-doubt runs out of oxygen. We unpack how broken promises to ourselves erode belief—and how to reverse it by choosing one habit, meeting it daily, and letting momentum rewire your identity. Shaun also examines the systems around us—parents, coaches, media—that shape confidence, and he makes a case for protecting your energy by curating the voices you let in. 

If you’re navigating change, leading a team, or just trying to keep your promise to yourself, you’ll find practical tools and a mindset you can carry. 

Shaun "Mister Motivation" Murphy is a U.S. Army veteran turned motivational speaker, educator, musician, and author of Unbreakable Valor: Triumph Through the Soul of Resilience (May 2025). After overcoming the trauma of losing his father at age six and rising from poverty in Brooklyn, he served in the Army and led veteran recruitment efforts for Teach For America—earning recognition from Michelle Obama 

Today, he blends original music, storytelling, and mindset coaching to empower individuals and organizations to break through fear, scarcity, and self-doubt 

Shaun lives with his wife and two children and continues to inspire change worldwide through speaking engagements, workshops, and his signature "Breakthrough Bunker" platform.

• Website: https://mistermotivation.com
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5EPyOcUv5KjjfyDGZFQo5Y
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@misterm0tivati0n
• LinkedIn:

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Resilience shows up in the small choices that restore steadiness after a hard season, and in the rare moments when private truth reshapes public policy. As we mark three years of the show, I share the unexpected chapter that changed my professional life: partnering with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley on the Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act. The work was slow and human. It demanded a shaky voice, persistent calls, and an insistence that survivor stories deserve visibility, validation, and a central place in how we write the rules.

Across nearly 150 conversations of this podcast, a pattern emerged. Guests rarely used the word resilience, yet everything they described—uncertainty, identity, responsibility, care—mapped to it. No one glorified pushing through pain for its own sake; instead they talked about decisions that led back to wholeness, connection, and stability. Behind the mic, that meant a different kind of craft: research that honors nuance, questions that protect context, editing that preserves dignity, and a steady presence when a guest shares something fragile. The outcome is a lens on how people rebuild and how systems can help or hinder that process.

We also look forward. The next phase introduces a produced narrative series exploring decisions and turning points that communities use to make sense of loss and progress, alongside episodes shaped by a survivor’s lens—people who have lived through disruption and can articulate what it reveals about culture and responsibility. Through these formats, we’ll keep centering lived experience and tracing the quiet truths that drive meaningful change. 

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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

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What if the choices that define you arrive sideways—on an ordinary day, without a plan, and ask you to cross a threshold you never imagined existed? 

We pull together standout moments from season three to explore how our identifies can change in real time: a spontaneous dance on a Paris stage, a living kidney donation made without hesitation, a tattoo on trust, a climb up Mount Fuji in a typhoon, a first book from someone who once believed reading wasn’t for him, and a grueling Camino that stitched life back together after isolation.

We start with the spark: an unexpected invitation to step into the light and say yes. From there, guests show resilience in many forms. Along the way, we reflect on how resilience often lies in small decisions, not just in times of crisis. 

The episode invites you to notice your own thresholds: the places where you stretched, adapted, and discovered strength you didn’t know you had. These stories aren’t polished origin myths; they’re honest, human snapshots of change. They show how meaning is made after the fact, when we look back and realize a choice turned out to be a turning point.

If these reflections spark your own: What is one thing you did this year that you never imagined for yourself. 

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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

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Silence protects bullies.

We sit down with Kim Williams—veteran HR executive, survivor of workplace abuse, and founder of the Fair Path Project—to unpack how brilliant jerks get shielded, why moral injury cuts deeper than most leaders realize, and what it takes to turn empathy into accountability.

Kim explains how fear operates at every level: employees fear retaliation, HR fears litigation, and executives fear losing a top performer. We examine the leverage that drives organizations—EPLI insurance exposure, workers' compensation for psychological harm, turnover costs, productivity loss, and even share price risk when toxic cultures are exposed in the press. 

If you’ve ever wondered how to quantify the brilliant jerk tax, this conversation is for you.

We also explore policy as a catalyst. Current frameworks require proving intent, a bar so high it keeps most targets unprotected. The Workplace Psychological Safety Act reframes abuse by decoupling harm from intent and recognizing psychological injury as real, documentable damage. 

Kim shares why hundreds of organizations support the effort and how advocates are engaging lawmakers to move beyond empathy-driven PR toward enforceable standards. Along the way, we find hope in Gen Z’s refusal to accept broken norms and in practical tools that automate documentation and surface patterns early.

If you’re an HR pro ready to lead, a manager looking for scripts that de-escalate, or an executive determined to protect both people and performance, this episode offers a clear playbook: care for your nervous system, document precisely, use leverage wisely, and act consistently. 

Kim Williams is the speaker and advocate, spokesperson for End Workplace Abuse, and the founder of the Fair Path Project to confront the silent epidemic of workplace bullying and to help employees reclaim dignity at work. A veteran HR executive and survivor of workplace abuse, she witnessed firsthand how workplace culture, gaslighting, and retaliation harm not only individuals but entire organizations. Determined to create change, Kim transformed her lived experience into a mission of accountability and healing. She equips employees with tools to document abuse, protect their rights, and recover their confidence, while guiding employers toward cultures rooted in psychological safety and integrity.

LinkedIn

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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

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What if the fastest path to better outcomes is a renewed commitment to empathy you can actually teach, measure, and scale? 

We sit down with Dr. Helen Riess—Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, founder of Empathetics, and author of The Empathy Effect—to unpack the science that turns the so-called soft skills into hard results.

Helen shares the journey from lab to classroom to enterprise, including a rigorously tested empathy curriculum that improved patient experience and shifted workplace dynamics. The numbers tell a powerful story: in a cohort of 500 clinicians, those who completed empathy training had an 83% higher retention rate. 

We dig into why that happens and talk about the elephant in the room: a healthcare system straining under factory-like pressures, where new nurses often arrive unprepared, mentorship is thin, and burnout feels inevitable.

Helen explains why culture change starts when leaders practice self-empathy and model curiosity, perspective-taking, and honest optimism. We map practical moves that make empathy operational: structured feedback, micro-recognition, mentoring time, and training. This conversation applies to any business that prioritizes the customer, while treating employees as mere functions; caring for people isn’t a detour from performance—it’s the engine.

If you’re ready to replace cynicism with connection, and checkboxes with real behavior change, you’ll leave with a roadmap grounded in neuroscience and proven in practice. 

Helen Riess, M.D. is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Empathetics. She is also a clinical professor and research psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, the author of The Empathy Effect, and is a core member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. She has devoted her career to teaching and research in the art and science of the patient-doctor relationship. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

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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

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Crisis leadership is about recognizing reality faster than everyone else. And telling the truth when it’s hardest. 

We sit down with Samantha Montano—associate professor of emergency management and author of Disasterology—to unpack what actually works when the stakes are life and death. From Katrina’s painful lessons to the East Palestine train derailment and the long haul of COVID, she traces a thread through delayed recognition, top-down blind spots, and the corrosive impact of mistrust.

Samantha breaks down the habits that separate effective responders from well-meaning bystanders: identify a crisis quickly, listen to the people closest to the ground, decide with clarity, and stay flexible as facts change.

We also talk about what we owe survivors after the cameras leave: rigorous after-action reviews that identify what failed—codes, policies, infrastructure—and commit to real fixes. Samantha shares practical ways to navigate the misinformation by pre-identifying credible experts and transparent sources before a crisis hits. There’s hope here too: a new wave of students stepping into emergency management with clear eyes about climate risk and a drive to build systems worthy of public trust.

If you care about disaster response, public communication, or leading under pressure, this conversation offers concrete frameworks and hard-won wisdom. 

Dr. Samantha Montano is an associate professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, co-founder of Disaster Researchers for Justice and the Center for Climate Adaptation Research, and the author of Disasterology: Dispatches from The Frontlines of The Climate Crisis.

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/samlmontano.bsky.social

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

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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