Hosts Nicki Straza and Sherri Dockree introduce the Dissonance Disrupted Podcast and begin a conversation on wellbeing at work through psychological safety, emphasizing it is often misunderstood as a box-checking, task-oriented, or purely cognitive initiative. They address employer fears of being fully responsible for employees’ psychological health, reframing it as creating environments, guardrails, and shared accountability where leaders and team members are each responsible for their actions and reactions. The hosts argue psychological safety is fundamentally physiological and rooted in neurobiology: when people perceive threat, they shift from prefrontal executive functioning to amygdala-driven fight/flight/fawn/freeze responses, making logic-based persuasion ineffective until regulation occurs. They explore how neurodiversity (including ADHD and rejection sensitivity) can intensify emotional threat responses and how ambiguity, lack of clarity, and insufficient autonomy can undermine safety and performance. They also highlight generational differences—Boomer and Gen X stigma around emotions versus Gen Z’s non-negotiable expectation of emotional consideration—and the need to honor humanity and dignity while maintaining boundaries and clarity. Practical strategies include using story-sharing to build curiosity and connection (e.g., structured lunches that prevent eating alone), focusing on “people before task” to build capacity, and encouraging leaders to start with self-safety, self-kindness, and awareness of their own stress responses, while acknowledging limitations in access to support and the real leadership challenge of retention versus cutting losses.

In this episode Sherri and Nicki welcome theirfirst ever guest, Kathleen Foldvari — social worker, psychotherapist, and founder of A Minute for Mental Health. Kathleen works with healthcare professionals, educators, first responders and leaders to prevent burnout before it becomes a crisis.

The conversation unpacks what trauma informed leadership actually looks like in practice — not as a clinical concept, but as a daily leadership skill. From the trauma hierarchy we create in our own minds,to the way unprocessed trauma quietly shows up as micromanagement, reactivity,and disconnection from teams, this episode challenges leaders to stop assumingthey are fine and start leading from a place of genuine self awareness.

Sherri shares her own experience of witnessing atraumatic accident and not recognizing its impact until someone else named it.Nicki connects the generational lens — exploring how older generations wereconditioned to suppress while younger generations are pushing for authenticity,and why we actually need both.

The conversation closes with Kathleen's practical challenge to leaders: shift from trauma-informed to trauma-assumed. Assume everyone has been through something. Lead from there.

Yes, trust matters, and in the workplace, we know it often gets overlooked. sing to talk about why that trust matters and how it may be at the root of workplace challenges, while also considering how this impacts different generations and neurodiversities.

In part two of Dissonance Disrupted’s wellbeing-at-work discussion, hosts Sherri Dockree and Nicki Straza explore how neurodiversity inclusion benefits everyone by creating clarity, accessibility, and innovative diverse thinking, likening it to clearing a ramp so all can thrive. They argue workplace wellbeing and culture require continual attention, feedback loops, and a “way of being” rather than performative box-checking, since individual needs shift day to day. The conversation emphasizes trust and psychological safety as layered and uneven across organizations, and highlights the importance of relationship repair through acknowledgement, accountability, and “circle back” conversations—especially for neurodivergent employees where unresolved conflict can lead to rumination, personalization, and relationship breakdown. They connect generational differences to vulnerability and conflict skills, noting younger generations may model stronger emotional intelligence, while older habits were shaped by higher perceived risk. They also address boundaries and policies when wellbeing efforts don’t resonate with some individuals, stressing leaders must own their own thriving, manage ego, and invest time and pace to build respectful, human-centered workplaces that support both people and business.

Welcome to Part 1 of a special two-part episode of the Dissonance Disrupted podcast!. Today, hosts Sherri Dockree and Nicki Straza tackle a massive and incredibly timely topic: well-being in the workplace. But rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach, they peel back the layers to examine how neurodiversity and generational differences fundamentally alter what it means to thrive at work, and how the definition of "thriving" changes from person to person.

The hosts dive deeply into the inherent tension—or "dissonance"—that arises when the well-being of the individual conflicts with the demands and urgency of the organization. From Boomers defining respect through the lens of authority and title, to younger generations seeking mutuality and authenticity, and the unique communication needs of neurodivergent individuals, this episode explores the complex, messy, and necessary work of creating truly supportive company cultures.

Ultimately, this first half of the conversation challenges leaders and team members alike to move beyond performative actions and "pizza parties". It is a powerful call to embrace empathy, emotional intelligence, and continuous investment in the human side of business in order to build trust—the foundational element that allows both people and organizations to flourish.

In the debut episode of the Dissonance Disrupted Podcast, hosts Nicki Straza, a certified flourishing facilitator, and Sherri Dockree, an ICF certified coach, explore themes of leadership, diversity, and inclusion. This episode emphasizes the importance of neurodiversity and psychological safety in the workplace. Sherri shares her personal experiences in executive leadership, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of leading a diverse team. The hosts discuss strategies for building trust, encouraging curiosity, and fostering a supportive workplace culture. They advocate for disregarding the negative connotations of "woke culture" and lean towards a human-centered approach to leadership, prioritizing connections and learning from failures. The podcast aims to challenge traditional leadership mindsets, urging leaders to embrace vulnerability and continuous growth to create thriving organizational environments.

Episode 1 Description: Meet Nicki

In the opening episode of Dissonance Disrupted, co-host Nicki Straza is interviewed by Sherri Dockree to set the foundation for honest conversations about leadership, wellbeing, and workplace culture. Drawing from lived leadership experience and neuroscience-informed insight, Nicki explores what healthy culture actually feels like, how burnout quietly takes root, and why emotional intelligence and psychological safety are no longer optional. This episode invites leaders to reflect on the unseen ways culture impacts people’s lives, families, and sense of purpose, and challenges the belief that performance and humanity must be in tension.

Dissonance Disrupted a podcast empowering leaders to navigate from discomfort to dialogue