Supervision, Not Snoopervision: Leading with Compassion

The Colleague You Think Is Fine: Trauma at Work

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Tracey Secker, founder of Voices Social Enterprise, a non-profit raising awareness of domestic abuse, trauma and other forms of abuse, supporting both employees and employers through training, resources and events. Tracey also works with the charity Rape and Sexual Violence Project. Tracey came to this work through lived experience of domestic abuse and its long aftermath. She understands how trauma can shape the way someone responds to managers, colleagues and pressure at work, often without realising it at the time. That understanding sits underneath everything she now does. We talk about why a mentally healthy workplace starts with a culture that feels safe, open and supportive, and why so many people, including senior leaders, stay silent for fear of being judged or seen as weak. Tracey lays out the scale of the issue: around one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, which means trauma is present in almost any workforce, whether it's current or historical. She's candid about the assumptions that get in the way. "It doesn't happen here" is, she argues, one of the most dangerous things a leader can believe. People hide it well. For some, work is the one place they feel in control, a safe space they protect by becoming someone else for the day. The fix isn't to turn managers into counsellors. It's far simpler, and it belongs to everyone: notice, ask, listen, believe, and point people towards the right support. 🔑 Key Topics * Why a mentally healthy workplace starts with a culture that feels safe, open and supportive * The scale of domestic abuse and trauma in any workforce, and the ONS figures behind it * How historical trauma, coercive control and post-separation abuse follow people into work * Why "it doesn't happen here" is the assumption that does the most damage * Work as a safe space, and the quiet signs someone may be surviving something at home * Supporting people without being a counsellor: hear, believe, listen, signpost * Policies that mean something versus tick-box policies that don't * Why checking in on each other is everyone's job, not just managers' 💡 Did You Know? Around one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse in their lifetime (ONS). In a team of ten, the maths is unavoidable: someone you work alongside is likely carrying it, current or historical, whether you can see it or not. 📝 Actionable Takeaways * Don't assume trauma isn't present. Find out. Even an anonymous QR-code check-in can surface what you can't see * When someone opens up, hear, believe and listen first. You don't have to fix it * Be honest about your limits. Don't promise what you can't deliver, and signpost to specialist support * Make your policies (domestic abuse, menopause, mental health) mean something, and live by them from the top down * Check in on people, including the ones at the top who rarely get asked * Treat a disclosure as a chance to support and educate, not automatically to discipline 🗣️ Join the Conversation When did someone last ask you, simply, "are you okay?", and what difference did it make? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Tracey Secker on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-secker-9522b047/] | Voices Social Enterprise [https://www.voices-social-enterprise.co.uk] 1. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-secker-9522b047/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-secker-9522b047/] 2. Voices Social Enterprise: https://www.voices-social-enterprise.co.uk [https://www.voices-social-enterprise.co.uk] If anything in this episode affects you, support is available. In the UK, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline (run by Refuge) is free on 0808 2000 247, 24 hours a day. If phoning isn't safe or possible, you can also reach them through the live chat on their website: https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk [https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk]

Leading with Humility: Why the Best Bosses Stay Human

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Steven Pink, who is the CEO of Verve Healthcare, a SELDOC Group company. Steven has worked in retail, banking, aviation, the NHS and private healthcare. You will hear in the podcast how experiences from each of these industries have shaped Steven's view on how to lead well. Steven's route to leadership has been interesting, starting as a 16-year-old selling men's suits in Marks and Spencer to leading two healthcare businesses as CEO: Verve Healthcare and SELDOC. That breadth shows in how he thinks about work. For Steven, a mentally healthy workplace is one where people get something back for themselves, not just a wage, but a sense of purpose, challenge and growth. He makes the case that we often have far more agency over our working lives than we think. We need to take hold of it. We talk about reflection as a vital discipline rather than a luxury. We consider why leaders who never carve out time to think end up leading with tunnel vision, and how saying no in a good way is an important technique you can learn; it isn't just about confidence. Steven shares his own turning point on health and fitness, and what changed when he finally treated his own wellbeing as a priority. He's also candid about the kind of leader he wanted to become. After working for some excellent bosses and some poor ones, he set out to build the kind of workplace he wished he'd been in when he was unhappy. The result: 97% workforce retention over five years in his current business, without the need to always be the best payer. His explanation is disarmingly simple, just be a bit human. 🔑 Key Topics * Why purpose and challenge matter as much as pay for mental health at work * The agency we have over our own working lives, and why we underestimate it * Reflection as a leadership discipline, and building structure to protect it * Saying no by offering an alternative, a learnable technique, not just confidence * Leaders not always putting themselves last, and why looking after yourself isn't selfish * Building the workplace you wish you'd had: humanity, belonging and retention * Influence with humility, and the responsibility that comes with seniority 💡 Did You Know? Steven's business holds 97% staff retention over more than five years, despite, in his words, not always being the best payer. His reason: once people arrive, it's simply a good, human place to be. Genuine kindness and low ego are vital ingredients for effective leadership. 📝 Actionable Takeaways * Decide what gives you value from your work, then engineer more of it into your week * Protect time to reflect, whether that's the gym, a walk, or talking it through with someone you trust * Practise saying no with an alternative: "I can't really do that this week, but I can do a great job with it next week. Would that work for you?" * Treat your own health and wellbeing as your number one priority; allow other things to reorganise around it * If your team look nervous or avoid you, treat it as feedback on your leadership, not on them, change how you are * Use influence with humility, the bigger your role, the greater your responsibility 🗣️ Join the Conversation When did you last give yourself real time to reflect, and what changed when you did? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Steven: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenpink123/] | Verve Healthcare [https://www.vervehealthcare.co.uk/] 1. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenpink123/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenpink123/] 2. https://www.vervehealthcare.co.uk/ [https://www.vervehealthcare.co.uk/]

Supervision, Not Snoopervision: Leading with Compassion

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Dr Emma Williamson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and CEO of Aneemo. Emma spent over 20 years in the NHS, including developing what is now the largest homeless psychology service in Europe, and she now supports organisations across sectors through trauma-informed leadership, training and immersive learning. We start with a simple question: what does a mentally healthier workplace actually look like? For Emma it begins with psychological safety, compassion and a trauma-informed approach, an environment where people can raise concerns or admit they're struggling without fear of repercussion, while still holding high standards and healthy challenge. From there the conversation opens out into leadership. We get into how we set managers up to fail, handing them targets and KPIs but little training, support or time.We talk about why so many people, younger workers especially, are stepping back from management, what happens to our judgement when we're burnt out, and why leaders so rarely give themselves the care they extend to everyone else. Her answer to the one change that would make the biggest difference is refreshingly practical: regular, genuine one-to-one spaces. "Supervision, not snoopervision," a phrase she credits to Dr Karen Treisman, support that's about the person, not just their objectives. 🔑 Key Topics * What a trauma-informed workplace looks like, and why it benefits everyone, not only those who've experienced trauma * Psychological safety sitting alongside high standards and healthy challenge * Why trauma is a wide umbrella, and why we don't need to label or diagnose to support people well * How we set leaders up to fail, and why healthy teams produce better outcomes than target-chasing * Burnout and the three signs to watch for: emotional exhaustion, disconnection, and feeling you achieve nothing * Why leaders have to start with their own wellbeing, and role-model boundaries, leave and rest * Distributed leadership, and letting go of the idea that one person does it all * "Supervision, not snoopervision" (a phrase from Dr Karen Treisman): regular one-to-one support as prevention, not paperwork * What to do when you don't get on with your line manager * Whether wellness action plans help, and why it's how they're used that counts 💡 Did You Know? Around 70% of the global population will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, and more than a third of workforce sickness and absence is linked to mental health. A trauma-informed approach isn't a niche concern, it's about almost everyone you work with. 📝 Actionable Takeaways * Build regular one-to-one spaces that are about the person, not only their KPIs, at least monthly * Notice the people who say "I don't need that", sometimes they can be the ones who need support most * As a leader, start with yourself: take your leave, hold your boundaries, find your own support * Use "I" statements rather than "you" statements when a working relationship is strained * Treat wellbeing tools as the start of a conversation, not a tick-box exercise * Find your own "team of solidarity", the people who reset you when your boundaries slip 🗣️ Join the Conversation Do you get a regular one-to-one space that's actually about you, not just your targets? And if you lead a team, are you giving yourself the same support you give everyone else? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Dr Emma Williamson: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-emma-williamson-04bb7a85/] | Website [https://www.aneemo.com/] 1. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-emma-williamson-04bb7a85/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-emma-williamson-04bb7a85/] 2. https://www.aneemo.com [https://www.aneemo.com/]

Construction, Culture, and Why You Can't Shape a Bully

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Marjorie Thomson, a commercial leader with more than 30 years in the construction industry. Marjorie's career has taken her from graduate trainee in Croydon to regional director responsible for a £26 million business, through two start-ups, two sales, and the process of leading a company through administration. She's now commercial manager at the startup she helped build, in what she describes as the best place she's been in her entire career. We talk about what culture actually is, not what the organisation declares, but what people decide to build on the ground. Marjorie argues you cannot shape a bully, and she's honest about the last 18 months leading up to her previous company's collapse, about the mental health crisis playing out in construction right now, and about what kept her going when it would have been easier to walk away. This is a conversation about what good leadership looks like when it shows up in other people, why mental health first aid training changed how she listened, and why, despite everything, seeing people develop is what still gives her hope. 🔑 Key Topics * What a mentally healthy workplace actually looks like in practice * Why culture isn't driven by the organisation, it's driven by the people in the right positions * Why you cannot shape a bully, and what happens when one becomes your leader * Leading over 120 people through the slow decline of a business * Misogyny in construction, then and now * What mental health first aid training changed for Marjorie as a leader * The specific mental health pressures in the construction industry * Why "I stayed for the people" is a leadership stance, not a consolation prize 💡 Did You Know? Construction has one of the highest suicide rates of any UK industry. Marjorie talks about why the sector's culture of "just get on with it", combined with long hours, financial precarity, and a near-complete lack of psychological safety, makes honest mental health conversations almost impossible on site, and often impossible in the office too. 📝 Actionable Takeaways * Check where your organisation's culture is actually coming from: the boardroom, or the people closest to the customer? * If you spot a bully in leadership, don't try to coach the behaviour out. Marjorie's lived experience says it cannot be shaped * Look at who your team comes to for advice. That's a signal of who's leading in practice * Audit your approach to wellbeing. Are you ticking boxes, or creating real space for people to speak? * If you're in a failing organisation, remember the people relying on you. That's a legitimate reason to stay, and a legitimate reason to leave when the damage becomes personal * Ask yourself: what gives you hope? If the answer is nothing, that's information worth acting on 🗣️ Join the Conversation What shapes workplace culture more, the people in it or the organisation that employs them? Have you ever stayed for the people when everything else told you to go? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media.

The Core Four Skills Nobody Teaches New Leaders

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Sue Naughton-Marsh, Organisational Development Strategist, Leadership Coach and Psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience helping organisations build confident, capable leaders. Sue brings a rare combination of perspectives. As a psychotherapist, she works one-to-one with people experiencing workplace stress. As a leadership coach, she helps organisations figure out why their people are struggling in the first place. Her argument is that most wellbeing initiatives miss the point. Organisations are reaching for sticking plasters when they haven't addressed the basics: do people know what they're here to do, do they have the skills to do it, and do they feel safe enough to grow? We talk about what Sue calls the "core four" skills that every leader needs but rarely gets taught: prioritisation, delegation, decision-making, and understanding team purpose. She explains why lean organisations are burning out their HR teams, why younger workers are turning away from management roles, and what happens when you strip an organisation back to its simplest structures. Sue also shares her "concertina approach" to HR support, bringing in temporary external expertise to build structures that last, rather than lengthy programmes that don't stick. This is a conversation about doing less, but doing it properly, and why the simplest changes often have the biggest impact. 🔑 Key Topics * The "core four" skills every leader needs: prioritisation, delegation, decision-making, and understanding team purpose * Why wellbeing initiatives fail when organisations skip the basics * The generational tension between younger employees' expectations and senior leaders' resistance to change * Running too lean: what happens when organisations cut so deep there's no space for development * HR burnout and the "concertina approach" to bringing in temporary external support * Why fewer people want leadership roles, and how to make management less daunting * Skills matrices and internal academies: focusing on three areas rather than trying to fix everything * Systems mapping to find bottlenecks and reduce complexity 💡 Did You Know? Most people struggle to narrow their priorities down to just three, even when they know it would improve their daily working lives. Sue explains this as resistance from our primitive brain, which wants to hold onto everything rather than let go. 📝 Actionable Takeaways * Audit whether your team has the "core four" skills before layering on wellbeing initiatives * Set aside time quarterly for leadership teams to assess core skills gaps and succession risks * Focus skills development on three areas, not everything at once, and make progression visible * Consider temporary external HR support to build lasting structures rather than committing to lengthy programmes * Run a systems mapping exercise to identify where bottlenecks and complexity are costing you time * Ask your team one question: "What one thing would most improve your daily working life?" 🗣️ Join the Conversation What core skills do you think are missing in your organisation's leadership development? Are you investing in wellbeing initiatives without the basics in place? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Sue on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/suenaughtonmarshleadershipcoach/] | Website [https://www.suenaughtonmarsh.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/suenaughtonmarshleadershipcoach/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/suenaughtonmarshleadershipcoach/] https://www.suenaughtonmarsh.com [https://www.suenaughtonmarsh.com/]