From Surviving to Thriving: Positive Leadership in the Aftermath of Trauma

By Cornelia Lucey and Charlotte Brown. 

In July 2024, violence at a children’s dance class in Southport profoundly affected a local school community. Among those killed were two children connected to Churchtown Primary School, one of whom was a current Year 4 pupil and the other a former pupil. The impact extended well beyond the incident itself, deeply affecting families, staff, pupils, and the wider community. Subsequent unrest further heightened fear and distress. 

At times of collective trauma, leadership demands more than operational competence. Leaders are required to provide psychological containment, support emotional regulation, and help people make sense of events as they unfold. This article reflects on how coaching psychology and positive leadership supported such leadership practice, drawing on work with headteacher Jinnie Payne and the application of the ALIGHT model, an evidence-based framework integrating wellbeing and performance. 

Leadership Under Traumatic Stress 

Trauma has a well-documented effect on emotional regulation. Following traumatic events, individuals may experience sustained threat activation, accompanied by reduced cognitive flexibility and executive functioning (van der Kolk, 2014). Within organisations, this can present as emotional volatility, withdrawal, hypervigilance, or burnout. 

Leaders are not immune to these effects. While managing their own emotional responses, they are also expected to provide stability and reassurance for others. Without sufficient psychological resources, leadership responses may shift towards excessive control or emotional disengagement, which can unintentionally amplify distress within teams. 

Preparation and prior development, therefore, matter. Jinnie Payne and Cornelia had been working together for eight months before the attack, focusing on values-based leadership, strengths awareness, and emotional agility. One of Jinnie’s core values and strengths was hope, understood as a capacity to sustain motivation and identify pathways forward under adverse conditions (Snyder, 2002). 

Hope as Psychological Capacity 

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Jinnie’s leadership reflected a strong psychological grounding. Rather than pushing the school community towards premature resolution or recovery, she focused on connection, presence, and care. Actions included opening the school as a space for collective grieving, maintaining direct and compassionate communication with families, creating structured reflective spaces for staff, and seeking guidance from leaders with experience of similar tragedies. 

Grief was also channelled into acts of remembrance and purpose, including a memorial fundraising initiative that raised over £370,000 for a new playground created in memory of the children who lost their lives. From a psychological perspective, these actions supported emotional regulation by legitimising distress and reducing the pressure to suppress emotional responses (Gross, 2015). 

The ALIGHT Model in Practice 

Our work was informed by Positive Leadership, integrating organisational psychology with research from positive psychology (Seligman, 1999). The ALIGHT model (Lucey & Burke, 2022) identifies six developable leadership resources that support wellbeing and performance, particularly during periods of high strain. 

Abundance 

Leadership attention was anchored in strengths, shared values, and what could be sustained, alongside acknowledgement of loss. Strengths-based approaches are associated with reduced burnout and improved resilience (Niemiec, 2018). 

Limberness 

Emotional agility, adaptability and resilience were central. The ability to hold multiple emotional realities simultaneously supported more responsive leadership. Psychological flexibility is linked to better outcomes following trauma (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). 

Inspiration 

Leadership presence influenced emotional tone across the community. Leaders’ emotional states are known to affect collective wellbeing through emotional contagion processes (Barsade & O’Neill, 2014). 

Grand Design 

Opportunities for remembrance and shared purpose supported meaning-making at a time when assumptions and expectations had been disrupted. Meaning-making is a key component of posttraumatic adjustment and growth (Park, 2010). 

Health 

Staff wellbeing was actively prioritised through recovery workshops that created space for emotional processing and practical regulation strategies. 

Tribe 

Relational connection was intentionally supported through shared reflection and dialogue. Strong social ties reduce the risk of prolonged psychological distress following traumatic events. 

From Survival Towards Thriving 

Thriving after trauma does not imply a return to previous functioning or an absence of pain. Instead, it reflects the gradual development of new capacities, including deeper connection, compassion, and purpose. Evidence on posttraumatic growth suggests that these shifts are more likely when individuals feel supported, heard, and able to integrate their experiences into a coherent narrative (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). 

Coaching psychology supported this process at both individual and collective levels. For Jinnie, coaching provided a space for emotional regulation, reflection, and values-led decision-making. For staff, psychologically informed facilitation helped normalise emotional responses and restore a sense of safety. 

Implications for Business Psychologists 

Although this case sits within an educational setting, the implications extend across sectors. Organisations increasingly face cumulative stress, uncertainty, and crisis. Business Psychologists can support leaders by developing psychological resources in advance, embedding emotional regulation within leadership practice, applying evidence-based wellbeing frameworks, and supporting meaning-making during recovery. 

Positive leadership and ALIGHT offer a psychologically grounded approach to navigating turbulence by integrating performance with care for human experience. 

As Peter Drucker (1980) observed, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is acting with yesterday’s logic.” Supporting movement from survival towards thriving requires leadership informed by psychological evidence, relational awareness, and sustained attention to wellbeing. 

A Note From the Authors 

For more practical ways you can benefit from Positive Leadership - sign up to our monthly newsletter. We have also just published a white paper called 'Thriving Through Tubulance: The Strategic Necessity for Positive Leadership' – email [email protected] to receive your copy. 

About the Authors 

Cornelia Lucey is an award‑winning Chartered Leadership Psychologist and Founder of Cornelia Lucey Positive Leadership (CLPL), specialising in wellbeing, resilience and leadership development. Drawing on expertise in coaching psychology, strengths‑based approaches and applied positive psychology, she partners with organisations to develop effective, emotionally flexible leaders. With a background spanning journalism, education and leadership consultancy, Cornelia brings over 16 years’ experience supporting senior teams to enhance performance, wellbeing and organisational effectiveness.   

Charlotte Brown is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist and Associate Consultant at CLPL with 12 years’ experience delivering evidence‑based career and leadership coaching with professionals from a wide range of sectors. Grounded in coaching psychology, theory and a Positive Leadership approach, Charlotte helps leaders navigate complex transitions, strengthen wellbeing and build sustainable, values‑led success. Drawing on expertise in career development theory and positive psychology, she supports organisations to create strengths‑focused, practical development that enhances both individual and team performance. 

References 

Barsade, S. G., & O’Neill, O. A. (2014). What’s love got to do with it? A longitudinal study of the culture of companionate love and employee and client outcomes in a long-term care setting. Administrative Science Quarterly, 59(4), 551–598. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839214538636

Drucker, P. F. (1980). Managing in turbulent times. Harper & Row 

Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781

Kashdan, T. B., & Rottenberg, J. (2010). Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(4), 467–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.001

Lucey, C., & Burkey, J. (2022). Positive leadership in practice: A model for the future. Routledge. 

Niemiec, R. M. (2018). Character strengths interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Hogrefe. 

Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 257–301. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018301

Seligman, M. E. P. (1999). The president’s address. American Psychologist, 54(8), 559–562. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.8.559

Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249–275. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1304_01

Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.