Success Stories

Shawndra's Success Story

Shawndra works for a large organization, but the team she is a part of is small; just six people, in fact. Shawndra’s team is really no different from any other. Everyone faces challenges and obstacles to overcome in the workplace. When working in teams, large or small, conflict is simply bound to arise.

When that conflict does occur, interactions within a team often become uncomfortable. Some people may withdraw while others become aggressive. Shawndra witnessed this happening among her own group. She felt the dysfunction in her team, and she yearned to find a better way. Something had to change. But what could she do?

When a trusted friend and colleague recommended Thrive At Work’s Creating Psychological Safety class, Shawndra didn’t think twice. She immediately registered for the next session and hasn’t looked back.

It wasn’t long into the Creating Psychological Safety class that Shawndra realized that she had been normalizing her co-worker’s negative behavior, and not only that, she was enabling it, too. Using the tools she learned throughout the Psychological Safety class, Shanwdra discovered that while she couldn’t change her co-worker’s undesirable behavior, she could change her reaction to it. She learned to take a pause, ask questions, and not escalate the situation. Best of all, Shawndra felt empowered to no longer be a victim.

During the class, Shawndra was able to do some powerful and profound work on her own psyche. She learned to implement some small changes that inevitably made an overall big impact in her work environment.

Shawndra didn’t stop there though. She took it even further than just her work life; she carried her newfound awareness into her personal life as well. She found herself reacting differently in tricky situations, asking those key questions, and using her ability to control her own behavior to create more positive experiences in all aspects of her life.

If you ask Shawndra why she continues recommending this class to her friends, her family, and just about everyone she knows, she’ll tell you it’s because, “It’s that important!”

Grant's Success Story

Each day Grant would head into work at his office and feel like he was part of a good team. Things seemed like they were going well on the surface, but eventually he began to discover there was some dysfunction taking place. When a co-worker recommended a course she had taken, Creating Psychological Safety, Grant decided to look into it further. He learned that it had a positive impact on his co-worker’s overall workplace experience, and thought it could help him, too.

Grant recognized the importance of communication, but he also admitted, he wasn’t very good at it. He knew he could improve his interactions with people, and was looking forward to learning. What stood out most to Grant in the class was the science of the brain during communication. Creating Psychological Safety takes students through a person’s psychology and biology when conversations go well (and even when they don’t) in order to teach perspective. Grant learned to recognize what might be occurring to the person on the other side of the conversation. He found a way to get curious about it, allowing him to understand them on a whole different level.

The class involved lots of hard work on Grant’s part, forcing him to dive deep and get vulnerable. Though he’ll tell you the work was draining, it was also rewarding for him. He came away with a different mindset and an increased ability to listen to people in his life (both work and personal). Beyond just thanking people, Grant actually uncovered a way to make people feel genuinely appreciated. It’s not that all of these changes occurred overnight, but Grant has been able to take what he learned from the class and continue to make small, but impactful changes over time.

Grant wishes that all supervisors would be required to take Creating Psychological Safety, because he thinks it could help them learn to interact more effectively. More than that, he recommends it to anyone who’s willing to dive deep in their professional or personal development journey. If you ask him what advice he would give someone who’s thinking about registering, he’ll tell you, “You have to be open to different ideas. You have to be willing to open yourself up.” Don’t be surprised if you see Grant there. The course was so beneficial for him, he said he could see himself taking it again in the future.