The Unexpected Reason Your Team is Struggling
—And How to Address It
Do you feel like your team is just not quite right lately? Maybe you’re not feeling quite right yourself? You're not alone. Leaders everywhere are noticing similar trends in their organizations:
🚨 Silos and disconnection between teams
🚨 Conflicting messages and lack of alignment
🚨 Dysfunctional communication patterns
🚨 Inconsistent experiences and engagement levels
🚨 Endless side conversations and "meetings about meetings"
🚨 Resistance to change and new initiatives
🚨 Decreased productivity and motivation
🚨 Difficulty engaging teams in discussions
Sound familiar? After decades as a management consultant and coach, I've seen these issues time and again. But here's the thing: the context we're operating in now is unlike anything we've experienced in our working lifetimes. The challenges aren't just about individuals or organizations - they're deeply influenced by the collective trauma we've all endured.
….I lost some of you with trauma, didn't I? For some of us, acknowledging that feels incredibly uncomfortable. I get it. I used to think that the deeper, darker emotional side of our individual and collective mental health belonged with the EAP, the therapist's couch, or mental health TikTok. At least three of the five generations in the workforce have been trained to think of the "emotional stuff" as non-work distractions. But that mindset is no longer serving us in the face of the collective challenges we're facing.
It's tempting to keep our heads down and power through, ignoring the disturbing trends in burnout and mental health. I've even heard too many leaders say it's time for employees to "put on their big boy pants and suck it up." But this approach only makes things worse.
So, what's really going on? The answer lies in understanding collective trauma. Renowned physician and expert Gabor Maté explains it perfectly: "Trauma is not what happens to you, it's what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you. Trauma is that scarring that makes you less flexible, more rigid, less feeling and more defended."
When a group experiences a traumatic event together - like a pandemic, natural disaster, or social upheaval - the impact can be felt long after the initial crisis. According to Polyvagal Theory, unprocessed trauma leads to a dysregulated nervous system, causing people to get stuck in states of hyperarousal (fight or flight) or hypoarousal (freeze or collapse). This makes it incredibly difficult to engage effectively and navigate complex situations.
At work, trauma responses can look like:
😠 Dismissing past experiences of difficulty or injustice
😒 Withholding information or using data to stigmatize groups
😴 Celebrating numbing and "absencing" behaviors
😢 Shaming people who articulate their needs
🤯 Fragmenting responses to big issues into tiny, unsolvable parts
😾 Persistent mistrust, territoriality, and lack of cooperation
Leaders who understand how collective trauma affects their organizations take important steps to support their teams' well-being and resilience. However, the real change starts with the leaders themselves. It's all about self-regulation. Self-regulation means being able to control your behavior, emotions, and thoughts to achieve long-term goals. Emotional self-regulation is about managing strong emotions and impulses—basically, thinking before acting. It also involves bouncing back from setbacks and staying true to your values. Self-regulation is an integral part of emotional intelligence.
When leaders do their own work to understand when they are reactive (see the states of dysregulation above), they can recognize when they are acting out of their default responses instead of their strategic, value aligned intentions. This awareness also helps them distinguish between someone's heightened behavior and their underlying intentions. Self-regulated leaders connect with others empathetically and create a work environment that supports psychological safety. Leaders need to self-regulate because, like trying to oversee a plane without your oxygen mask, it simply doesn’t work.
Creating a safe, supportive environment where people feel heard and valued is the key. Leaders can model the regulation they want to see, which includes being vulnerable and acknowledging when they are off their game. Of course, this is not the time to skimp on resources for mental health and well-being. (My friend Morra Aarons Mele wrote a fantastic in-depth piece with action steps for Harvard Business Review.) It's all hands on deck for fostering a culture of empathy and understanding.
Peter Levine said, "Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering." Navigating its impact on our collective experience is an ongoing process that requires patience, empathy, and a willingness to learn and grow. By acknowledging the impact of trauma on your team, providing support and resources for well-being, and investing in your own growth as a leader, you can help create a workplace culture that is productive, creative, and healthy.
Look out for a leader’s"how-to" on addressing collective trauma, coming soon.