A practical field guide
Trauma Transforming Leadership
From survival mode to sustainable impact
For leaders in child protection, youth justice, residential care, mental health and education who can handle the pressure, and are starting to feel what handling it this way is costing them.
You’re not failing as a leader. You’re leading in survival mode.
- you’re in a meeting you didn’t schedule, about a crisis you didn’t create, while part of you is still on tonight’s roster gap
- your door is always open, and “can I quickly check this with you?” has become the most common sentence in your day
- you do your real thinking at night, because that’s the only time no one needs you
- you sit in the car before driving home and realise your body is still in the meeting
This book is for you. It won’t ask you to work harder or be more resilient. It shows you how to change the way work is organised around you, so the pressure is held by the system and not stored in you.
Who it’s for
Written for three kinds of reader.
Read it straight through
Part I names what’s happening and helps you find your leaks. Parts II to V rebuild your capacity one movement at a time.
Executives and boards
Many of the leaks are created above the frontline leader, and only you can close them. Part VI shows how to adopt the framework, starting with one 90-day pilot.
Supervisors and trainers
Every chapter ends with a 15-minute action and a 10-minute team version you can use in supervision, team meetings or a program.
What changes
Work through it over one 90-day cycle and you’ll have:
“I can’t promise fewer crises. I can promise a way of leading through them that doesn’t cost you everything.”
- Protected thinking time that survives a real week, with a plan for where it moves when a crisis takes it
- A team that carries its routine decisions, because people know what they own and when to bring you in
- One mission that keeps moving while the day-to-day noise continues
- A clear map of the people around you and around the child, and one move to make them work together
- A way of ending the day that lets you arrive home, not just leave work
- A review date in your calendar, so the changes hold once the book is back on the shelf
Inside the book
Six parts. Fifteen chapters.
Parts I to V are written for the person doing the leading. Part VI is written for the people who decide the conditions they lead in.
When Capacity Starts to Disappear
- 1When Crisis Becomes the Baseline
- 2The Leadership Capacity Problem
- 3Where Your Capacity Is Leaking
Restore the Conditions for Leadership
- 4Rhythm Before Performance
- 5Purpose When Urgency Gets Loud
- 6From Cyclone to Mission
Stop Holding the System Alone
- 7The Leadership Bottleneck
- 8Your Three Teams
- 9Integration Around the Child
Turn Direction Into Coordinated Action
- 10Alignment Without Micromanagement
Sustain the System
- 11Recovery Is Leadership Infrastructure
- 12Leadership as a 90-Day Practice
Make It the Way We Lead
- 13What Executives Control That Frontline Leaders Cannot
- 14A Shared Language and a Shared Rhythm
- 15The 90-Day Organisational Pilot
Built to be used
Every chapter ends with the same one-page kit.
So you always know where to look, and so you can take each idea straight into supervision or a team meeting. Choose one thing per chapter. That’s enough.
Try this in 15 minutes
One action you can do today, alone.
Team version
A 10-minute agenda for a team meeting or supervision.
Watch out for
The most common way the idea goes wrong in practice.
Three-line recap
The whole chapter in three sentences.
About the author
Barry Morris
Barry started as a frontline Child Safety Officer while training as a psychologist. He has since spent more than twenty years in child protection, youth justice, residential care and mental health, as a practitioner, psychologist, clinical supervisor and consultant.
He has run more than 150 workshops, trained over 2,000 practitioners and supported more than 300 children and families directly. This book is the framework he developed and tested with the leaders and teams he works alongside.
More about BarryGet your copy
Start this week. One chapter, one action.
Instant ebook download for $9.99 AUD.
Buying for your organisation?
Get in touch about copies for your leadership team, so everyone shares the same language and tools.
Ask about team copiesSecure checkout through Integrated Potential. Your download link is emailed straight after purchase.
Buy the ebookQuestions
How do I receive the ebook?
Straight after purchase you’ll receive an email with your download link.
Is it only for frontline leaders?
No. It’s written first for team leaders and service managers, with a dedicated part for executives and boards, and tools that supervisors and trainers can use with their teams.
Is this a therapy book?
No. It’s a leadership book. If the pressure of your work is affecting your health, sleep or relationships, please talk to someone: a supervisor, your doctor, a psychologist or a support line.
Can my organisation use it across a team?
Yes. Part VI is written for organisations adopting the framework, and Barry runs workshops and programs built on the book through Integrated Potential. Use the enquiry form to talk about team copies or a program.