Workshop #3 2026
Transforming Toxic Work Environments:
Creating Psychological Safety
Thursday, June 17, 2026
9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00-2:00 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: Eddie Pate, Ph.D
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What kinds of behaviors or actions make work relationships toxic for you? What everyday behaviors signal that it’s not safe—to be who you are, to ask questions, challenge ideas, or admit mistakes?
Psychological safety is one of the most significant workplace issues today. Why? Gallup’s research underscores that psychological safety is not just a nice-to-have but a necessity for modern workplaces. It is crucial for encouraging a culture of open dialogue, innovation, and collaboration within teams. Essentially, when employees feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to contribute ideas, provide feedback, bring their whole selves to work, and engage fully in their work.
What is Psychological safety (PS)? It is a feeling, and it is a sincere belief that one can speak up with ideas, questions, concerns, feedback, or even admit mistakes without fear of retaliation, humiliation, and/or punishment! It is about the trust one has that, regardless of where we are, we can ‘safely’ bring our whole selves. PS is not a one-way street because whether we feel safe depends on our interactions with others, with messages (said and un-said), and importantly because of the environments we live and work in.
In this interactive & skill-building workshop, participants explore what psychological safety actually looks like at work and beyond at this polarized time, and how it can be strengthened through everyday simple inclusive behaviors. As Ghandi reminds us: “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” Participants will examine common barriers and learn practical, simple ways to create environments where people can contribute fully, challenge ideas, collectively learn from mistakes, and thrive.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” –Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr.
So, come ready to engage and use your voice so we all can learn and grow together.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
- Recognize behaviors and conditions that strengthen or erode psychological safety on teams
- Distinguish between physical safety and psychological safety
- Practice communication strategies that support trust, candor, and accountability
- Apply everyday actions that help sustain psychological safety for yourself and others over time, especially during change, tension, or conflict
Presenter:
Presenter: Eddie Pate, Ph.D, is a published author, an executive advisor, and ID&E consultant, and a keynote speaker. He is the founder and president of Eddie Pate Speaking and Consulting, Inc.
With over 26+ years of global experience working across industries, Eddie has transformed communities and businesses in the realm of Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity (ID&E). As an operational executive, Eddie has utilized inspirational & inclusive leadership skills to build global organizations that understand and value the power of ID&E. His expertise lies in helping drive intentional strategic focus on ID&E to help individuals, teams, and organizations thrive without getting overwhelmed.
His recently co-authored the book, Daily Practices of Inclusive Leaders: A Guide to Building a Culture of Belonging (B-K Publishers, 2024), was hailed as “…offering the simple practices of inclusion that can be used by all leaders at all levels of experience and infused into recruiting, hiring, retention, and succession planning.” Described as “small impactful actions” that resonate with managers and are easy to implement, co-authors Pate and Stutz “capture the essence of the practice of inclusion for leaders.”
HR Continuing Education Credit:
Our two-hour Learning Series workshops provide 2.0 HR (general) recertification credit hours through the HR Certification Institute® (HRCI) or Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)®, toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™, SHRM and SPHRi™.
Live Virtual Sessions and Recordings:
ALL Sessions are conducted live virtually on the dates listed above. If granted permission by the Session presenter(s), we will share the webinar recording with registered attendees for four weeks after each Session.
Accessibility:
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, by certified interpreters, is available upon request. If you need an accommodation, please contact Series Project Manager, Abi Depositar, at isdi.admin@i4sdi.org. Requests MUST be made at least TWO weeks prior to the session.
