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Leadership Uncensored with host Dawn Emerick, EdD
Where Real Leaders Talk About the Hard Stuff
Welcome to Leadership Uncensored—the podcast that cuts through the polished scripts and curated personas to bring you raw, real, and unfiltered conversations about what it truly means to lead in today’s world.
Hosted by Dr. Dawn Emerick, a national voice in trauma-informed leadership and systems change, this podcast goes beyond buzzwords to explore the messy, meaningful, and transformative moments of leadership. Whether you're a seasoned executive, a changemaker in the making, or someone navigating the tension between personal healing and professional growth, Leadership Uncensored is your space.
Each episode features courageous conversations with leaders across sectors—corporate, nonprofit, government, and education—who are willing to pull back the curtain. We talk burnout, breakthrough, betrayal, bias, boundaries, and becoming. No fluff. No filters. Just truth.
Episodes
27 episodes
Season 5, Episode 22: LEADERS WHO READ: A Roundtable on the Books Shaping Us
Episode 22 of Leadership Uncensored, “Leaders Who Read: A Roundtable on the Books Shaping Us,” is a candid conversation about the ideas, stories, and pages that have shaped how we lead, think, and show up in the world. I’m joined by two powerho...
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Season 5
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Episode 22
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47:42
Season 4 Episode 21: Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership- Trauma’s Impact on the Labor Movement: Union Leadership, Collective Organizing & Working Class Solidarity with Ron Ruggiero
I speak with former union president, Ron Ruggiero, who shares his insight about his new found freedom, the power of the "pause", and the seduction of the achievement hamster wheel. Ron also explains his theory on the individual trauma within bo...
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Season 4
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Episode 21
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58:24
Season 4 Episode 20: Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership- Building Trauma-Informed Teams with Matthew Cooke
I speak with Matthew Cooke to discuss his story of burnout at the age of 24 and the importance of building trauma-informed teams. "All the money I was making in this start up, I was pouring it into I'm sorry. I...
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Season 4
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Episode 20
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50:33
Season 3 Episode 19 Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: The Chicago Resiliency Network
I speak with Denean Pillar-Jackson, Executive Director of the Chicago Resiliency Network, an initiative of the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, to discuss their ground-breaking trauma-informed culture work with employers like AT&T, JP Morgan...
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Season 3
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Episode 19
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55:06
Season 3 Episode 18 Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: Leading Through Our Head, Heart, and Gut
Carolyn Swora is an Ontario-based trauma-informed leadership coach, consultant and Human Spirit Ignitor who supports impact-driven leaders within purpose-led organizations to truly understand themselves so that they can show up and lead from th...
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Season 3
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Episode 18
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48:56
Season 3: Episode 17 Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: Trauma-Informed Design
Trauma-informed design is about weaving the principles of trauma-informed practice into architectural design with the goal of creating physical spaces that promote safety, collaboration, empowerment, well-being and healing.Over the last...
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Season 3
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Episode 17
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55:36
Season 3, Episode 16. Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: Daryl Tol, EVP with One Mind
A trauma-informed approach to leadership is about a way of being, a set of behaviors or principles interwoven into the organization's DNA, not just a specific set of tasks or a checklist or annual training. It isn't being "nicer" to your employ...
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Season 3
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Episode 16
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47:17
Season 3, Episode 15. Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: The Corvallis School District
BEST PRACTICES IN TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADERSHIP From the Inside Out The Corvallis School District A trauma-informed approach to leadership is about a way of being, a set of behaviors or principles inter...
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Season 3
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Episode 15
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51:05
TRAILER with Kelly Locey: Season 3: Episode 15. Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: The Corvallis School District
Listen to the second trailer of Season 3, Episode 15 with Joe Leykam and Kelly Locey from the Corvallis School District in Corvallis, Oregon. BEST PRACTICES IN TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADERSHIP From the Inside Out
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Season 3
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Episode 15
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1:04
TRAILER with Joe Leykam: Season 3: Episode 15. Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Leadership: The Corvallis School District
Listen to the trailer of Season 3, Episode 15 with Joe Leykam and Kelly Locey from the Corvallis School District in Corvallis, Oregon. BEST PRACTICES IN TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADERSHIP From the Inside Out The Co...
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Season 3
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Episode 15
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1:18
Season 2: Episode 13: Conquerors in the Workplace: When Leaders Become the Source of Trauma.
The public/private sectors are in the midst of a turnover tsunami. Layoffs, stimulus checks, vaccine mandates have all been documented as reasons for the mass exodus. However, more and more outlets are beginning to reveal the ugly truth behind ...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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47:03
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Season 2, Episode 12: It's Lonely at the Top
Shakespeare once said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” Was he correct? Leadership can be very isolating. On one hand, employees shun friendships with their boss because it may result in bias against the ...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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45:01
Season 2, Episode 11: Jake Jacobs. Leverage Change: 8 Ways To Achieve Faster, Easier, Better Results
5-Part Special Series on ChangeThe 5th and Final Podcast on Change: Jake Jacobs helps organizations, teams, and individuals make monumental changes. Over the pa...
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37:34
Season 2, Episode 10: Susan Schmitt Winchester. Healing at Work: A Guide to Using Career Conflicts to Overcome Your Past and Build the Future You Deserve
5-Part Special Series on Change4th of 5 Podcasts on Change: Susan Schmitt Winchester is the Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer forApplied Mate...
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40:01
Season 2, Episode 9: Dr. David Dull. Ensuring that History Doesn’t Repeat Itself: Leadership Lessons from the Pandemic.
5-Part Special Series on Change3 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Dr. David Dull is an anesthesiologist, certified physician executive and certified executive coach.&nb...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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31:00
Season 2, Episode 8: Laurie Shakur--Putting the Human Back into Human Resources
5-Part Special Series on Change1 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Laurie Shakur, aka "Work Mom", and VP, Head of People for Rakuten, USA & B2B, a Division of ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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38:38
Season 2, Episode 7: Dave Walter. Keys to a Winning Vision & Strategy: Active and Visible Leadership, Managing People Through Change and Celebrating the Successes
5-Part Special Series on Change1 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Dave Walter, Prosci Master Instructor and recently retired Director of the Change Management Expertise...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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42:33
Season 2, Episode 6: The Dark Underbelly of Organizational Politics
Organizational politics are normal organization attributes and navigating internal politics is a necessary leadership skill for selling ideas and influencing others with diverse interests without compromising your integrity or the organization’...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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1:08:39
Season 1 Episode 5: Iron Fists Eventually Rust
We need emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership now more than ever. The outdated coercive style of leading and managing people is out.Emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership is an approach that acknowledges th...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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47:18
3 Min Trailer, Episode 5: Iron Fists Eventually Rust
We need emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership now more than ever. The outdated coercive style of leading and managing people is out.Emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership is an approach that acknowledges th...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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3:22
2 Min Trailer, Episode 4: There's No Crying in Leadership
Bravado or vulnerability? Doggedness or self-Awareness? Intimidation or humility? Most of us can visualize these terms playing out in our past/current places of employment, with our past/current leaders or even within ourselves.&nbs...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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2:21
Season 1 Episode 4: There's No Crying in Leadership
Bravado or vulnerability? Doggedness or self-awareness? Intimidation or humility? Most of us can visualize these terms playing out in our past/current places of employment, with our past/current leaders or even within ourselves.&nbs...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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1:03:19
Season 1 Episode 3: The Only One
Many Black leaders find themselves being the “only one” in the c-suite, on boards, in meetings, at conferences, at strategic retreats. Black leaders often feel “Hoorah for me! and “Why just me?” all at the same time. There is an un...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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53:37
2 Min Trailer for Episode 3: The Only One
Full Episode available on Tuesday, August 11 @ 4:00PM CTMany Black leaders find themselves being the “only one” in the c-suite, on boards, in meetings, at conferences, at strategic retreats. Black leaders often feel “Hoorah for me! and ...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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2:27
Season 1 Episode 2: Cultured Milk
Courage, fearlessness and having the ability to judge what is right and wrong and act according are core pillars to servant leadership. Strong servant leaders are people who push through uncomfortable situations, who are willing to make difficu...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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51:11