When leadership hurts It doesn’t always arrive shouting. Sometimes it enters quietly— in a meeting where your voice is noted, but not recorded. In a decision already made before the question was asked. In the smile that says we value you while the body tightens, bracing for impact. Psychological safety doesn’t shatter at once. It erodes. Slowly. Like trust rubbed thin by silence, by watching who is protected and who is exposed. Toxic leadership teaches the nervous system to