Trauma-informed organizational leadership

Abstract

This project was done in partnership with Sonshine Community Services in Calgary and examined the leadership style that is inducive of creating a trauma-informed workplace for all staff. To answer this question, the project captured the experiences of staff using the Professional Quality of Life Scale (Stamm, 2008), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (Weathers et al., 2013) and three liberating structures to support the leadership team in understanding the staff survey results. Results showed staff had a good professional quality of life overall, leaders generally utilized a servant leadership approach to support staff, and leaders can benefit from intentionally articulating their leadership approach and utilizing it to develop a holistic change management plan. This project demonstrated that sincere efforts to care for staff is a good starting point, but leaders must follow through on plans of action if they are to truly transform their organization.