by Annick Rogiers, ICF-Certified Business and Trauma Coach
A colleague dies suddenly on their way to work. The room falls silent. All eyes turn to you. What do you say — as a leader, as a human being? Workplace trauma is no longer the exception; it’s a strategic reality. This article explores why recognition is essential, how language and presence matter, and what it takes to lead when the script disappears.
Workplace trauma is no longer the exception — it’s a strategic reality
“No one saw it coming. I didn’t either.”
One Monday morning, a team I was working with received the news: a colleague had suddenly passed away on the way to work. The room fell silent. No words. No direction. Just eyes filled with confusion.
How do you continue when everything changes in an instant?
What struck me was how quickly people retreat — out of discomfort, out of helplessness.
“We’ll just carry on,” they say.
But trauma doesn’t care about schedules.
It seeps into people — and into culture.
It affected me too. It brought back a memory I carry myself: the sudden loss of my partner, years ago — also on the way to and from work.
While the team froze, I felt how old grief returned in a new moment.
And I thought: If this hits me so deeply — what does it do to them?
What if, as a leader, you’re affected too?
What if your team needs you most — right when you’re shaken inside?
All eyes are on you.
You feel something is expected, even before a single word is spoken.
But what if you don’t know what to say?
No language. No direction. No assurance that what you say will be “right.”
Sometimes all you need is someone who can teach you how to speak — when everything goes quiet.
Not in perfect phrases.
But in real, human words.
Say, for example:
“What happened affects each of us differently. How are you really doing?”
“You don’t have to say anything — but know that I see you.”
“We can’t fix this, but I’m not going to look away.”
Not as a solution.
But as a beginning.
Teach me how to speak, when silence is louder than words.
From Acknowledgment to Action
Language is a start. But trauma asks for more.
It requires leadership that can sit with not knowing.
That doesn’t turn away — even when things feel raw or uncertain.
What you need in that moment is not a perfect playbook but a guiding framework that helps you:
• understand what trauma does to people and systems
• recognise how it shows up — often subtly, in behaviour and dynamics
• support without forcing — with clarity and humanity
Because those who want to support others must first learn to see.
Those who wish to guide, must first understand.
And those who lead, don’t have to do it alone but they do need to be present.
Where It Truly Begins
Organisations that make trauma part of the conversation are building more than recovery.
They are building trust.
Teams that learn to speak where silence once ruled.
Cultures where safety isn’t a promise it’s a practice.
That is where sustainable wellbeing begins.
Not with tools. But with courage, language, and connection.
If this resonates — begin with one courageous step:
Name what has not yet been named.
Because trauma doesn’t disappear by staying silent.
But it can transform — if we dare to see, to listen, and to lead.
About the author
Annick Rogiers is an ICF-certified business and trauma coach, keynote speaker, and HR consultant in trauma-informed leadership. With over 30 years of experience in HRM and workplace wellbeing, she supports organisations and leaders in navigating the human impact of trauma. She is the author of Stronger than Your Trauma – How to Transform from Victim to Hero and founder of the Sustainable Wellbeing Platform after Trauma. Drawing from both personal and professional experience, she brings trauma into the strategic conversation at the highest levels. Her mission: to embed wellbeing at the heart of organisational culture — and into the ‘S’ of ESG.
