In recent decades, our scientific and clinical understanding of how our nervous system develops and works has increased tremendously. Its implications are so profound, they radiate far beyond the field of psychology. Topics such as trauma informed law, trauma-informed volleyball coaching, legal counseling, education, social activism have arisen. It is time to think about how it affects leadership.

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Trauma-informed Agile
how I adapted my practice to latest knowledge in psychology

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Start by tracking your own
experience on three levels:
1. body sensations (weight,
deepness of breath, …)
2. thoughts (stuck, circling,
now vs. future/past, ...)
3. emotions (glad, afraid,
angry, surprised, ...)
TRACKING YOUR EXPERIENCE

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Think back to a concrete moment in your
professional life when you felt you were at the right
place and at right time and made a difference?
Track your experience while you remember this.
SELF REFLECTIVE EXERCISE
What did you notice about your inner experience?
Please share one word/short sentence in the chat

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WHO IS TALKING?
Anton Skornyakov, Agile Coach & CST®
- Background in maths, physics, business and
entrepreneurship
- Trains Scrum Master, Product Owners and
Organizational Leaders
- Run my own small business
- Completed an education to a NARM®-informed
professional in summer 2022

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TRAUMA-INFORMED AGILE / LEADERSHIP?
Track your experience while you imagine this.

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POSSIBLE THOUGHTS / REACTIONS
● “I am wrong at this new position. I don’t belong
here anymore.”
● “Are they going to even need me? / They don’t
care for me.”
● “No one involved me or others in this decision,
what I want doesn’t matter here.”
● “But I trusted them, when they hired me and
said… I can’t trust them anymore…”
● “I’ll have to be completely transparent in the
open now, where is my space?”

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OTHER LASTING DIFFICULTIES
● Self-doubt, Brooding spirals
● Addiction to harmony
● Perfectionism
● Withdrawal, avoidance and
difficulty in making
decisions
● Difficulties in drawing
boundaries and standing
up for ourselves

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WE ALL HAVE SOME DEVELOPMENTAL TRAUMA

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NERVOUS SYSTEM PLAYS A ROLE
Source: -luffyboy- Wikipedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polyvagal_theory_Ventral_Vagal.png

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● Take time to get myself into a ventral
state before engaging with others
○ many short interventions exist
1st TAKE-AWAY - BE AWARE
● 50-50 stance: be connected to myself
and to the others
● Invite participants to connect to
themselves
○ e.g. Check-In or track your inner
experience 😉
● Improved ability to judge an interaction
afterwards and draw conclusions

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#DIFFICULT BEHAVIOURS

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● NARM starts where the client is and
wants to go now, and moves guided
by curiosity
POWER OF INTENTION
● Start with what the client wants now,
not what is theoretically best.
○ This way you’ll progress faster
○ and obviously it’s iterative
● Also use VOLUNTEERING and
INVITATIONS

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● For example, if a client says: “I want
my developers to hit the deadline on
our team.” I might ask: “If your
developers do start hitting the
deadlines, how do you hope this will
impact your leadership?”
● When a client wants to set a
behavioral change as their goal, we
explore with them the state change
they believe this would bring to them.
GOALS: BEHAVIOUR VS STATE
● The state is a more stable goal and
more connected to the real need.
● Focusing on behaviour change may
lead to manipulation.

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RESPONSIBILITY / AGENCY
LAY BLAME
JUSTIFY
SHAME
OBLIGATION
RESPONSIBILITY
Source: The Responsibility Process® by Chistopher Avery (https://responsibility.com/)
“It’s because of them…”
“It’s because of the
circumstances, that…”
“I deserve this…”
“I have to…” / “I should do it…” /
“because it’s my duty…”
“I am free & so are you” /
“I choose to…”
NARM INNER VOICE
STRATEGIES
TO
DISCONNECT
FROM
WHAT IS
STANCE
EMOTIONAL
COMPLETION
AGENCY

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● A time you were able to meet and
support someone with openness,
curiosity and no agenda
● A time you were trying to change,
impact or caretake a person's
experience
NOT KNOWING AS A LEADER
I invite you to take a few moments to reflect
on (and track your inner experience):
● I learned to feel the helplessness, if I
am identifying with other person
instead of just being with them.
○ in fact it non-almightyness

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WHAT SPARKS JOY / CURIOSITY?
Use you inner compass to
find, what’s on for you.
And support others in
doing so

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WHAT SPARKS YOUR CURIOSITY?
Invitation:
1. What did you hear in this session that sparks joy
when you think of applying it in your context?
2. Does a question arise when you think of bringing it
to life?
https://narmtraining.com/transformingtrauma/ https://narmtraining.com/transformingtrauma/
Further resources: