Steady Leaders, Steady Teams: Effective Communication When the Stakes are High

Sessions

Session 1: Check In With Yourself First – Leading Without Escalating the Moment

Difficult conversations often escalate not because of what is said, but because of how leaders enter the moment. This session focuses on self-regulation as a core leadership skill—especially when urgency, fear, or frustration are present.

Participants will explore how stress impacts decision-making, communication, and presence, and how unregulated leadership can unintentionally intensify conflict. Through reflection and practical tools, leaders will learn strategies to pause, ground themselves, and lead from clarity rather than reactivity.

This session addresses:

• How stress and urgency shape leadership behavior
• Common leadership stress patterns in high-stakes moments
• Practical regulation tools leaders can use before and during difficult conversations
• How self-regulation supports ethical decision-making and trust

Session 2: Stabilizing Teams When Emotions Run High

Leadership doesn’t happen in isolation. In this session, participants shift from self-regulation to co-regulation—how leaders influence the emotional tone, clarity, and stability of their teams through presence, pacing, and communication.

Leaders will examine how responses can either calm or escalate situations, particularly when staff are anxious, defensive, angry, or withdrawn. Using real-world scenarios, participants will practice identifying response patterns and learn language and approaches that support steadiness, dignity, and connection.

This session addresses:

• What co-regulation looks like in leadership—not emotional labor
• How tone, timing, and clarity affect team response
• Responding to fear, resistance, or heightened emotion without absorbing it
• Language that stabilizes teams while maintaining expectations

Session 3: Recovery, Repair, and Re-Alignment After Hard Moments

Many organizations move on from crises without truly recovering from them. This final session focuses on organizational restoration—what leaders must do after difficult events to rebuild trust, reinforce learning, and prevent burnout or cultural drift.

Participants will explore how unresolved stress lingers in teams, how leaders can acknowledge impact without reopening harm, and what intentional recovery practices look like in action. The session emphasizes restoration as an ongoing leadership responsibility, not a one-time conversation.

This session addresses:

• Signs an organization is stuck in “crisis mode”
• The cultural cost of skipping recovery and repair
• Leadership practices that restore clarity, trust, and psychological safety
• How to re-anchor teams in purpose, expectations, and shared direction

What You’ll Gain

• Applied, leadership-focused learning grounded in real I/DD scenarios
• Practical tools for regulating yourself, responding to others, and restoring trust after difficult moments
• Scenario-based exploration that invites reflection and shared insight
• Clear frameworks designed for immediate use before, during, and after high-stakes conversations

What to Bring

• A notepad or device for reflection and note-taking
• A recent or anticipated leadership challenge involving conflict, change, or heightened emotion
• Openness to reflecting on how leadership presence and communication shape outcomes

Presenters

• Brianna Kurt-Hurst, Director of Operations, Sample Supports
• Sue Shaw, Training Coordinator, St. Louis Arc
• Jennifer Tissot, Executive Director, South Carolina, Sunrise Community
• Lauren Vohland, Executive Director, GoodLife Innovations

Registration

• ANCOR Members: $125
• Non-ANCOR Members: $300

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