Psychological Safety: The Antidote for a Divisive, Digital Era
August 25th to August 27th, 2026
In today’s volatile workplace, external forces like intensifying political divisions, anti-DEI backlash, and global crises are fracturing teams, eroding morale, and stalling critical decision-making. The complexity and constant pressure of this era demand a higher level of leadership competence to manage polarization and build organizational resilience. While many are distracted by AI’s potential, employee performance and inclusion rely on “old school” relational skills more than ever.
The Anima Summer Institute (ASI) is dedicated to cultivating psychological safety as the essential foundation for navigating these troubled times. “Analog” skills—strategic discernment, conflict management, empathy, and dialogue—are critical to navigating complex, sensitive issues in an anxiety-provoking digital era.
By emphasizing psychological safety, leaders will be equipped to:
- Increase Potential: Drive high-performance and inclusion simultaneously.
- Promote Resilience: Foster both compassion and accountability.
- Reduce Conflict: Prevent and de-escalate conflict through dialogue.
For more, check out our NEW Anima Leadership for Troubled Times Certificate with four new courses.
Day 1 of the Anima Summer Institute is FREE OF CHARGE.
Day 1: Tuesday August 25th, noon-4pm EST
Day 1 will introduce the following themes:
- Psychological Safety Foundations: What it is and how it substantially differs from “safe space”, an unrealistic and undesirable concept for professional workplaces. Cultivate a culture where discomfort is an expected part of learning and innovation while “harm” language is minimized.
- Decision-making on Sensitive Issues: This session will discuss practical strategies to guide groups through sensitive issues (e.g. Israel/ Palestine) using polarity management and dialogue frameworks to help executive leaders and board of directors make institutional decisions.
- Addressing Barriers for Diverse Leadership: Based on CEO Annahid Dashtgard’s third book, Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders, this conversation focuses on the patterns holding back leaders of various minoritized backgrounds and what steps can be taken to create psychologically safe environments where people of all backgrounds and identities can thrive.
Going deeper with skill-building and practical strategies which will be the focus on each of the next two days.
Day 2: Wednesday, August 26th, noon-3pm EST
Psychological Safety: Practical Steps and Processes for Teams
Beyond words, explore practical, small steps that leaders can take in their daily practice to actually nurture psychological safety on teams. Also understand how this is linked to a trauma-informed workplace and identify the signs of a burnout in yourself and others.
Day 3: Thursday, August 27th, noon-3pm EST
Facilitating Dialogue: Decision-Making on Sensitive Issues
This workshop provides the essential frameworks to help leaders make collective decisions on divisive issues (e.g. Israel/ Palestine) that the institutions can stand behind. Using Polarity Management and dialogue skills helps move conversations from “debate to win” toward “dialogue to understand.” Through a structured “fishbowl exercise,” participants will learn to hold competing views and apply these tools to find comprehensive solutions to complex human problems and improve collective decision-making. Executive leaders and board of directors will find this road-tested methodology particularly useful.
Register for Day 1 ONLY (FREE)
Format: Live webinar and pre-online video content
Length: Webinar = 3 hours and pre-online video = 1 hour
Date: August 25, 2026
Time: Live webinar, 1:00-4:00pm EST
Fee: Free (1st Day only)
Register for ALL
Dates: August 26 & 27, 2026
Times: Live webinars, 1:00-3:00pm EST
Plus first Free bonus day August 25th 1:00-4:00pm EST
Fee: $395 USD (All days) Inclusive.
Spaces are strictly limited, register soon to guarantee your seat. Sliding scale available for 10% of spots (please contact us info@AnimaLeadership.com).
Note: The Anima Summer Institute assumes a basic level of diversity, equity and inclusion knowledge. It is recommended that participants take the Deep Diversity self-directed course as a precursor, which also counts as a credit towards Anima’s new Leadership in Troubled Times Certificate.