#123 - The Empathetic Workplace: How to Handle Workplace Trauma - Katharine Manning

Tech Lead Journal

Mar 6 2023 • 53 mins

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. What people want in these traumatic moments is somebody to listen to and acknowledge them."

Katharine Manning is the President of Blackbird DC and author of “The Empathetic Workplace”. In this episode, we discussed how leaders can deal with traumatic experience in the workplace. Katharine described what she means by workplace trauma and explained the impact of such trauma on employees’ performance and organizations’ productivity. She shared the importance of leaders showing trust whenever employees come forward and share their trauma, and why leaders should avoid problem-solving in response to their situation. Katharine also touched on the importance of empathy and gave a few tips on how we can be more empathetic towards others. Towards the end, Katharine shared her LASER method, the five steps we can do for a more compassionate, calm, and confident response to the workplace trauma.

Listen out for:

  • Career Journey - [00:05:53]
  • Trauma in the Workplace - [00:10:50]
  • Impact of Trauma - [00:14:47]
  • Showing Trust - [00:19:29]
  • Avoid Problem-Solving - [00:28:35]
  • Empathy - [00:31:07]
  • The LASER Method - [00:37:17]
  • 3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:50:48]

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Katharine Manning’s Bio
Katharine Manning is the President of Blackbird DC, which provides training and consultation on empathy at work. She is the author of The Empathetic Workplace: Five Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job, and teaches at American University and in the Master’s in Trauma-Informed Leadership Program at Dominican University. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Thrive Global, and CEOWorld. She has worked on issues of trauma and victimization for more than 25 years, including 15 years at the Justice Department, where she was a Senior Attorney Advisor consulting on victim issues in cases like the Boston Marathon bombing and the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

Follow Katharine:

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For episode show notes, visit techleadjournal.dev/episodes/123.