The Ripple Effect of Leadership: How You Leave the Room Matters More Than You Think
- Kelli
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
A reflection on leadership, emotional intelligence, and what happens when you walk away.
It happened on a quiet walk through the woods.
I was following a trail I’d taken before; leaf-laced, familiar. The kind of space where your mind begins to settle.
Then I saw it.
A large bird was perched high on a thin, flexible branch. It must have sensed me approaching. In a flash, it took off. Feathers rustled. Wings beat. The branch it left behind wobbled violently—like one of those old door stoppers I used to flick as a kid.
It bent but didn’t break.It quivered, then steadied. Eventually… it stilled.
I stood there longer than I expected, watching. Because in that moment; the bird, the branch, the aftershock—it said something.
It asked:👉 When you leave the room, how does your team respond?
Are they left energized and clear-headed?Or are they managing the aftershocks of your mood, your silence, your stress?
The Unseen Impact of Leadership
As a trainer and coach who helps leaders build trauma-informed and emotionally intelligent workplaces, I know how often we don’t realize the effect we’re having.
We move quickly—sometimes too quickly. Pulled by deadlines, expectations, team needs, or sheer survival mode. Like that bird, we lift off fast, not meaning to cause any harm. But the ripple remains.
And while a branch will always return to stillness, a team? A team may carry the tension indefinitely.
That’s why I believe this work—real, human-centered leadership development—matters now more than ever.
The Power of Looking Back Before Moving Forward
At Silver Linings International, we’ve designed a course specifically for this kind of reflection and growth:the Trauma-Informed Supervisor Course.
One of the most transformative tools we offer in that program is an anonymous Psychological Safety Survey for your team. You don’t see names. You don’t get finger-pointing. What you do get is honest insight into how your leadership style lands—and lingers. It’s not about getting everything perfect.It’s about knowing your ripple… and learning how to make it a steady one.
This course teaches:
How to build cultures of psychological safety and trust
What trauma-informed supervision really looks like in action
How to navigate tough conversations with clarity and compassion
And how to lead in ways that support your staff without sacrificing accountability
We’ve made it flexible—available as a self-paced or cohort-based option—because we know time is limited, and the need is great.
So, Back to That Branch
It reminded me that we don’t always get to see what we leave behind.
But leadership isn’t just about what we do when we’re present. It’s about how people feel in our absence. The confidence we instill. The safety we cultivate. The environment we set in motion.
If your goal is to leave behind calm, capable teams—ones that can bend, adapt, and recover—you need more than good intentions. You need the skills and self-awareness to lead differently.
That’s where we come in!
Our Trauma-Informed Supervisor Course begins again this September.If you’re ready to shift your ripple—to lead in ways that steady, not shake—We’d love to walk with you.
You don’t have to lead perfectly.But you can lead intentionally.
Let’s build cultures that don’t just survive… they steady, they soar, they heal.
