In this deeply personal and raw conversation, Shannon Pearson opens up about her journey from being a trusted HR leader to becoming the target of a system she once believed in. What began as a career rooted in care and service unravelled in the face of organizational dysfunction, toxic silence, and moral injury.
This is not just a story of conflict — it's a story of betrayal, awakening, and personal transformation. Shannon speaks candidly about what it felt like to be gaslit, isolated, and ultimately broken by the very system she tried to help fix.
Now a coach and conflict practitioner, Shannon reflects on how conflict changed her — and what it taught her about power, identity, compassion, and courage.
Key Takeaways:
You can be both respected and completely unsupported in a broken system.
Moral injury in the workplace is real — and recovery requires grieving and rebuilding.
Silence in conflict isn’t neutral. It protects power and erases harm.
Healing starts when we stop blaming ourselves for what the system failed to hold.
🔗 Connect with Shannon:
LinkedIn: Shannon Pearson
Website: shannonpearson.ca
We will be releasing special episodes every couple of weeks and these will be a deeper dive into the guests and the conflict subjects. STAY TUNED
Host Bio
Maria founded the Centre for Peaceful Solutions in response to the fatal shooting of a 7 year old in her neighbourhood. She developed a model of conflict resolution for violent crime using her brainchild, the Dialogue Road Map (DRM).
Over 30 years she has mediated everything from threat to life gang disputes to high stakes business deals gone wrong, Maria empowers people to resolve conflict without reliance on experts. So she trains violent prisoners to be facilitators, leaders to be effective communicators, teenagers to be peer mediators and neighbours to be tenant listeners within their respective communities.
The DRM has applications in all aspects of life and is used for resolving conflict, repairing harm, decision making and healing at an individual and group level. It challenges people to live in harmony with their values. In 2020 Maria received an MBE from the Queen for services to mediation.
www.centreforpeacefulsolutions.org
www.peacefulsolutions.org.uk
www.workplacehuddle.com
This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/