Why trauma-informed leadership is needed in Pride Month and beyond

I know I’m a bit late on the last day of June to be writing about Pride Month but I’ve been reflecting on the importance of visible symbols; the role they play in psychological safety; and why that’s important for trauma-informed leadership.

Recently I returned to a university where I studied and worked on and off from 2011 to 2021. For the next few months I’ll be doing some casual lecturing there and I was walking around campus thinking about old times. I was struck by how visually different the campus was from when I was last there. At that time everything was corporate navy and white.

Now it looks very different. There are permanent pride symbols throughout the grounds such as rainbow chairs and progress pride flag colours painted in a major thoroughfare. Screens throughout campus had Pride Month messages and I saw people walking around wearing rainbow lanyards.

As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community I look for these symbols, especially when I am dealing with people in positions of power. I don’t assume that everyone is LGBTQIA+ friendly because often they are not. I want my medical practitioners to show visible signs of allyship. I want my workplace to have a “you are welcome here” rainbow prominently displayed. I relax a little every time I see a retail worker wearing a rainbow pin. It’s not because I want to be the centre of the universe, it’s because I’m relieved that I don’t have to hide who I am. I am nearly 50 years old and for the most part I’m straight-passing so it’s easy for me to fly under the radar but I don’t want to have to. This is especially true at work given how much time we spend there, and how draining the straight mask can be.

Read the full article at The Trauma-informed Leader on Substack.