What can The Lion King teach us about workplace resilience? In this insightful article, RTT Founding Member, Treena Reilkoff from TLR Solutions4Conflict INC uncovers how the enduring lessons on courage, leadership, and perseverance can inspire resilience and create stronger, more adaptable workplaces.
Treena is a Conflict Management & Resiliency Specialist with over 25 years of experience in trauma-informed practices, mental health, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Learning from The Lion King:
Transforming Workplace Resilience through Timeless Lessons
Having seen the Lion King theatre production for the second time, it resonated that the story
has an underlying theme about resiliency, risk mitigation, and embracing our fears that result
from our personal and professional exposure to crisis, disruption, adversity, trauma, and critical incidents.
One of the most powerful lessons I took away is a quote from The Lion King that comes from Rafiki, who reminds us:
"The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it."
This wisdom resonates far beyond the savannah and speaks directly to the core of resilience and growth, whether in our personal lives or within our workplaces. In my personal and professional experiences, I've seen how organizations that truly learn from their past challenges—rather than avoiding them—build the most adaptable and resilient risk-mitigating cultures. Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back; it's about beginning with presilience—a proactive approach that helps organizations anticipate, adapt, and transform in response to challenges.
Learning from the past means embedding presilient leadership, and trauma-informed practices while promoting psychological health and safety and creating a culture of transparency and inclusivity for businesses. By actively integrating these elements, organizations can foster a supportive environment that mitigates risks, supports business continuity, leverages inclusivity, and enhances the well-being of every employee.
So, what does it look like when we acknowledge the past hurts (emotionally, financially, in time and human capacity) and how do we move forward to learn from it?
Here are some solution-focused strategies to help people and organizations build and sustain a resilient and psychologically safe workplace and support business continuity.
1. Integrate Psychological Health and Safety into Organizational Strategy
Psychological health and safety should be a foundational element of any organizational strategy. Standards like the Canadian National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety and/or ISO 45003:2021 provide clear guidelines for managing mental well-being within the workplace.
Actions:
Use tools like Guarding Minds at Work to conduct regular psychological risk assessments, identifying areas that could impact employee well-being.
Incorporate psychological health and safety metrics into organizational goals, treating them as integral as physical and psychological safety.
Benefits: A commitment to psychological health fosters trust and support, resulting in a more
engaged, productive workforce and a reduction in absenteeism and turnover.
2. Foster a Trauma-Informed Workplace Culture
A trauma-informed workplace understands that employees bring varied experiences to work.
This approach involves recognizing workplace, and historical and intergenerational trauma,
understanding its impact on decision-making, mitigating conflict and risk mitigation, and
fostering tactical empathy in the workplace. Trauma-informed practices support all levels of
management and employees' well-being and create a culture of accountability and
responsibility.
Actions:
Train managers and HR on trauma-informed approaches, helping them identify and respond supportively to trauma/stress-related concerns.
Provide resources like Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and trauma-informed training to ensure employees receive support as needed.
Benefits: A trauma-informed culture strengthens resilience by minimizing re-traumatization
risks and supporting employees’ mental health. This also leads to greater engagement, loyalty, and retention, directly supporting business continuity.
3. Embrace Neurodiversity for a Truly Inclusive Workplace
Neurodiversity recognizes the value of neurological differences, such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, and creates a supportive environment where neurodivergent employees can thrive.
Embracing neurodiversity involves inclusive hiring practices and accommodating diverse
cognitive styles.
Actions:
Establish recruitment processes and work environments that support neurodiverse talent, including sensory-friendly workspaces and clear communication structures.
Offer neurodiversity training for managers and teams to build understanding, reduce biases, and support effective collaboration.
Benefits: Neurodiverse teams bring unique perspectives, boosting innovation and problem-
solving. By fostering an inclusive workplace, organizations tap into a wider talent pool and build a more resilient, adaptable workforce, as well as mitigate the risk of workplace violence and harassment.
4. Commit to Transparency to Build Trust and Engagement
Transparency around key organizational decisions, policies, and changes is essential to building trust. It is especially crucial during periods of change, such as restructuring or layoffs, where uncertainty can undermine morale.
Actions:
Develop a communication plan that openly shares information about organizational goals, policy changes, and employee feedback. Create bilateral, multi-lateral
communication systems that break down the silos within departments and leaders. Use anonymous feedback channels to encourage open dialogue.
Conduct trust, culture, fairness, and psychological safe leadership assessments to measure employee confidence in leadership and adjust strategies accordingly.
Learn communication skillsets that don’t evoke threat responses but create a psychologically safe environment to have difficult conversations, prevent increased conflict, and mitigate the risk of re-traumatization and/or subsequent workplace violence and harassment.
Benefits: Transparent communication reduces distrust and enhances engagement, promoting a sense of security and belonging that supports resilience and continuity.
5. Integrate Mental Health into Business Continuity Planning
For true resilience, organizations should incorporate mental health considerations into business continuity plans. Crises can have significant mental health impacts, so planning for presilient leadership, and psychological support is essential for sustaining operations and supporting employees.
Actions:
Develop crisis response plans that include identifying psychosocial risks and hazards pre- and post-incident.
Integrate psychological first aid and mental health protocols, that do not cease 2-3 weeks post-incident. Train leaders to provide compassionate crisis support and improve their decision-making through adrenal management.
Regularly update continuity plans, using employee feedback to address evolving psychological risks and hazards.
Benefits: Prioritizing mental health in continuity planning ensures that employees feel
supported during and after crises and disruptions, enhancing loyalty and engagement under
stress and fostering long-term resilience.
6. Promote Work-Life Balance to Prevent Burnout
Work-life balance initiatives, such as flexible schedules and "right to disconnect" policies, are essential for preventing burnout. These policies help create boundaries that allow employees to recharge, fostering sustainable productivity.
Actions:
Encourage leaders to role-model work-life balance and educate them on the importance of boundary-setting for preventing burnout.
Conduct audits to monitor workload, ensuring policies are effective and burnout risks are addressed.
Recognizing preventing burnout is a shared responsibility of both the employer and employee. Conducting culture and workplace risk assessments, including a review of the current systems and supports in place to mitigate the risk.
Benefits: Promoting work-life balance and updating the systems and processes in place reduces burnout, increases job satisfaction, and strengthens employee retention, which directly supports business continuity and resilience.
7. Develop Leadership Skills in Trauma-Informed, Psychologically Safe Practices
Strong leadership is essential for fostering a resilient culture. Training leaders in trauma-
informed and psychologically safe practices equips them to support employees effectively,
contributing to a healthy workplace culture.
Actions:
Offer trauma-informed/ presilient leadership training to help leaders build empathy, active listening skills, and a deep understanding of psychological safety.
Engage certified trainers to conduct workshops on neuroinclusivity, trauma-informed care, and psychological health and safety.
Benefits: Trauma-informed Presilient leaders foster a supportive, resilient culture, encouraging employees to feel safe and valued, which strengthens organizational cohesion and resilience.
Building a Resilient Leadership Legacy
At TLR Solutions4Conflict INC., we view resilience as an ongoing cycle of learning, adapting, and evolving. By taking a proactive approach—starting with Presilience, advancing to Resilience, and ultimately achieving Anti-Fragility—organizations and businesses can create a robust culture and systems that not only withstand crises, threats, stressors, and volatility but grow stronger because of them. This approach enables companies to embrace challenges, adapt amid uncertainty, and improve continuously.
Learning from the past, as Rafiki teaches, is not just about surviving or managing our
trauma/stress responses of fight, flight, and freeze; it's about using those experiences to foster a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to contribute fully, ensuring that business continuity endures.
As organizations and businesses look forward, adopting principles of psychological health and safety, trauma-informed practices, presilience, and inclusivity will do more than just help them survive disruptions—it will provide a sustainable foundation for business growth and risk mitigation. Embracing this vision allows companies to evolve, turning adversity into
opportunities for a stronger, more adaptable future.
Treena reminds us that:
“The Past can and does hurt. Let’s choose to learn from it!”
Author: Treena Reilkoff
A.D.F | Mediator | QMED | WFA | PHSA | BA | BSW
TLR Solutions4Conflict INC. and Founding Member of Resilient Think Tank
Treena Reilkoff is a Conflict Management & Resiliency Specialist with over 25 years of experience in trauma-informed practices, mental health, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). As the founder of TLR Solutions4Conflict and a Founding Member of the Resilience Think Tank, she promotes strategies for building personal and professional resiliency in the workplace. Treena is an international trainer and speaker on Resiliency and Trauma Informed Management, with a background in mental health, corrections, military/veteran affairs, and social work. She is a co-author of three upcoming international books and holds numerous certifications, including Qualified Mediator and Certified Resiliency Trainer.
Why Join The Resilient Think Tank
At the Resilient Think Tank collaboration of our experiences and learning from independent professionals is the foundation of embracing the dynamic world we live in, where risk mitigation is constant. We know and value the importance of working together and/or with diverse teams to leverage different perspectives and expertise. Effective collaboration leads to more innovative and effective solutions in risk management and conflict resolution.
Find out more about membership here: https://www.resiliencethinktank.com/membership
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