It has been said that everything rises and falls on leadership. In the workplace, we want (and need) our staff to do their jobs well, but how do we best support our teams so that they can show up and be present in the important work they do? How do we help employees to have good boundaries, be grounded, not take things personally, and take care of their own selves?

Sharon Simms founded SAS Consulting in 2012 to help answer this question. SAS Services, LLC is a consulting firm that specializes in organizational capacity building. In my interview with Sharon, I was struck by her heart for organizations and the leaders and employees that make them successful. She spoke a great deal about what compassionate leaders are. According to Sharon, “compassionate leaders acknowledge when something is going on and then work with employees to find out what is needed for them to do their work effectively. When a change needs to be made, they work to address that and access that, meeting both the needs of the organization, and the needs of the individual. This often includes having tough conversations in an empathetic and trauma sensitive way.” For many organizations, the Pandemic has shined a bright light on the need for workplace wellness.

Sharon goes on to share that every employer can benefit from having compassionate and trauma informed supervisors. Additionally she adds: “Self care is not a good thing to do, it is not just fluffy; It is required in order to do good work with people, many of whom have experienced trauma.”

A quick tip from Sharon: We are always in some form of change. As managers, how do we handle change well so as to not cause more issues? Whatever you are doing – any change that is needed – in order to ensure that people hear it and understand it, we need to communicate it by a factor of 10! Say it in 10 different ways or 10 different times! (People often ignore the first 5 times they hear something whether consciously or unconsciously!)

Sharon strongly believes in practicing what she preaches. The long hours she puts in with her business and holding space for organizations and people has led her to move to the North Shore of Oahu for better self-care.

In summary, if you are a leader who wants to truly become trauma informed, (and you can’t move to an island beach), at least be sure to attend Prioritizing Workplace Wellness at this year’s CRI Conference – you AND your employees will be glad you did!