The Real Lesson Wasn't the Chair

That day wasn’t about physical safety—it was about emotional safety.
Yes, I was the one hit. But I wasn’t the only one shaken.
Leadership meant showing up calm when others felt chaos.
It meant processing the trauma with the team, not above them.
It meant staying human, even when I wanted to retreat.

Here's What That Moment Taught Me About Leadership:

✔️ You don’t need to have all the answers—just presence.
✔️ Regulation beats reaction. When you’re calm, others find their footing.
✔️ Leadership is not about appearing unshakable—it’s about being real and responsible at the same time.
✔️ Debriefing with care builds trust more than any title ever could.

Leaders on Edge

We don’t get to choose when the chair flies—literally or metaphorically.
But we do get to choose how we show up when it does.

In the years since that day, I’ve sat in boardrooms, led through a significant organizational shift, helped a team through crisis, while navigating several significant personal challenges simultaneously.  But I’ve never forgotten the lesson from that small psych office:

Crisis doesn’t define your leadership—your response does.

Thank you for being here. If this resonated, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s keep redefining what leadership looks like—especially in the hard moments.

#LeadersOnEdge #AuthenticLeadership #TraumaInformedLeadership #NurseLeadership #Resilience #HealthcareLeadership #LeadershipLessons