Secure Workplaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ Employees: A Coaching Approach for Managing the Politics that Sneak through your Office Door
Political conversations have historically been taboo in the workplace. However, queer and trans identities are inherently political, and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and their allies are presently experiencing sociopolitical threats that can deeply impact their emotional, psychological, and physical wellbeing.
Is it realistic for people to leave these experiences at the door when they arrive at work?
How might this silence affect an employee’s belonging, safety, performance, or loyalty in the workplace?
This talk explores how organizations can apply coaching techniques to foster queer-inclusive cultures which don’t shy away from lived experiences. Rooted in current best practices, we will examine how organizations can support 2SLGBTQIA+ employees by recognizing their lived experiences, cultivating safe team dynamics, and navigating conflicting belief systems in the workplace. The presentation provides strategies that leaders, teams, and individuals can apply immediately.
Learning Outcomes:
Shared awareness of sociopolitical conditions that influence intersectional 2SLGBTQIA+ wellbeing
Coaching strategies for safely acknowledging and discussing lived experiences at work without activating conflict across differing beliefs
Empathic leadership skills, founded in curiosity, to support teams and individuals who are experiencing fear and conflict
Individual resiliency practices for self-regulating, building trust, contributing at work confidently, and feeling authentic.
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Available Online (anywhere); In-Person (New Brunswick)
Nick LeBlanc (she/her), P.Eng
Nick is a Professional Engineering and founder of Sapwood Executive Excellence & Training (SWEET). She helps professionals and organizations thrive by enhancing organizational effectiveness and nurturing safer workplace cultures. Through SWEET's executive coaching and training services, Nick empowers professionals to redefine and ignite their careers and their teams. With over twenty years in the construction and engineering consulting sectors, her coaching is anchored by powerful insights into strategic leadership practices; as a queer, trans, and disabled professional, her services embed an intersectional approach to elevating the voices and experiences of equity-deserving communities. Nick lives in Sipekne'katik, an unceded Mi'kmaq territory within Mi'kma'ki, where SWEET observes the Peace and Friendship Treaties.