Brave Enough to Lead: Building Cultures of Psychological Safety
In-Person Chapter Meeting
Overview:
Psychological safety is a powerful yet underleveraged driver of organizational performance, innovation, and engagement. Despite its widespread benefits, it is often framed narrowly as a team or interpersonal issue. This session reframes psychological safety as a strategic organizational imperative—one that must be embedded into leadership development and cultural design.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will:
- Examine the systemic and cultural role of psychological safety in driving learning, adaptability, and empowerment.
- Analyze how leadership behaviors can either reinforce or erode psychological safety.
- Apply a new, research-informed competency model that identifies five core dimensions of psychologically safe leadership.
- Work through real-world scenarios to diagnose challenges and craft actionable strategies.
- Reflect and collaborate with peers to support ongoing application in their own settings.
Key Takeaways:
- Psychological safety is not a “soft skill”—it’s a core performance strategy.
- Leaders set the tone: communication, inclusion, and response to risk matter.
- Talent development professionals play a critical role in equipping leaders to create and sustain safe environments.
- The new competency model provides practical tools for coaching, training, design, and assessment.
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM CT
Location: Williamson Country Public Library - Main Branch, 1314 Columbia Avenue, Franklin, TN 37064
Members: FREE
Parking: FREE
Non-Members: $20
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ATD Nashville has been pre-approved by the ATD Certification Institute to offer educational programs that can be used towards initial eligibility and recertification of the Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) and Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) credentials. This program qualifies for a maximum of 1 point.
About the Facilitators:
Deborah (Deb) Tobey, Ed.D. is a thought leader, educator, and practitioner of Organization Development (OD) and Change. Deb has held an OD consulting practice for many years. In addition, she has held positions as Director of OD in a financial services organization, Director of Talent Management in a government agency, and adjunct faculty member at George Washington University and Vanderbilt University. Deb also taught OD full-time at the master's level at Vanderbilt University for eight years. Her other specialties include Human Performance Improvement, Talent Development, and Consultation skills and practices. She is author/co-author of three books for OD practitioners.
In her work, Deb focuses on creating client efficacy, through human performance analysis, identification, design, implementation, and evaluation of human performance interventions.
Lauren Kiproff-Downer is a dynamic Organizational Psychology practitioner and the founder of Perpara Consulting, LLC, based in the Nashville, TN area. With a unique blend of emotional intelligence, innovative problem-solving, and data-driven insights, Lauren is committed to empowering organizations and their employees to achieve new levels of success and job satisfaction.
Lauren specializes in transforming organizational performance, elevating organizational culture, enhancing employee engagement, and advancing talent development across diverse sectors, including healthcare, publishing, and nonprofit organizations. Her intervention approach focuses on creating tailored solutions that improve organizational culture, develop leadership potential, increase employee retention, and support success in virtual or hybrid work environments.
