Fault Lines

Richard Roman

Fault Lines explores why trust breaks and how to rebuild it in organizations, leadership, communities, and public institutions. Hosted by Richard Roman, a PhD candidate in organizational leadership and trust strategist, the show translates research into actionable playbooks for senior leaders, consultants, and anyone navigating broken trust. Each episode features researchers, executives, and practitioners unpacking what actually works: workplace culture, team dynamics, institutional credibility, and civic trust. New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe and start building trust where it matters most.

  1. 3d ago

    The Liberation Lens: Why Freeing People Is the First Act of Trust

    Most trust-building strategies assume everyone starts from the same baseline. Liberation psychology says that assumption is the problem. In this episode, we explore how liberation psychology reshapes the way leaders understand organizational trust, psychological safety, racial trauma, institutional repair, and collective healing. Drawing on Ignacio Martín-Baró and Amy Edmondson, this episode examines why trust cannot be rebuilt through communication strategies alone. Trust is structural. It is shaped by history, power, design, and unequal access to safety. So we ask: Who was this organization designed to serve? Who has been asked to adapt or absorb harm? And what would it mean to move from designed extraction toward designed service? This conversation offers a liberation lens for rebuilding trust at four levels: self-trust, interpersonal trust, team-level trust, and organizational trust. It is a practical and provocative episode for leaders, educators, managers, DEI practitioners, and anyone working to build more honest, humane, and trustworthy institutions. Thanks for listening!

    20 min

  2. May 20

    Healing What Systems Break: Liberation Psychology, Veterans, and the Real Work of Trust

    A young medical interpreter picks up the phone at 3 AM in a rural Nebraska hospital and hears a parent learn their child is gone. That moment changed everything for Dr. Ayli Carrero Pinedo. Now a trauma psychologist, founder and CEO of In Alignment Wellness Services, and recipient of the 2022 APA Presidential Citation, she joins Dr. Richard Roman to discuss building trust within systems never designed for the communities they serve, from therapy rooms to veteran groups to institutions dismantling their own equity work. They explore liberation psychology as a diagnostic framework, why coalition-building matters more than ever, and what it costs leaders when asked to act against their values.

    46 min

  3. May 12

    The Mirror and the Watchman

    Every AI tool that observes you is built on a choice: does it serve you, or does it serve someone else? In this solo companion episode, Richard unpacks the trust architecture behind AI systems across three domains: organizational leadership, higher education, and public institutions. Drawing on Gallup's 2025 data showing manager engagement at historic lows, the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer's findings on the collapse of institutional trust, and Pew Research on civic confidence, he introduces the "mirror vs. window" framework to evaluate whether AI tools are designed for service or extraction. If you lead people, develop people, or set policy for institutions deploying AI, this episode lays out the trust test every system should have to pass.

    27 min

  4. May 5

    Why Frontline Managers Aren't Getting Better

    Most managers get feedback once or twice a year if they're lucky. Ben Perreau is the founder of Parafoil, an AI-powered leadership intelligence tool that gives managers a real-time mirror after every one-on-one. I In this episode, Ben and Richard dig into the feedback vacuum that stalls most leadership development, why the IC-to-manager transition is where trust breaks down, and what it actually looks like to design an AI tool that serves managers rather than surveilling them. If you lead people or develop the people who do, this one's for you. Find Ben's work at Parafoil.co and connect with him on LinkedIn.

    46 min

  5. Apr 28

    Mindful Leadership, Psychological Safety, and the Neuroscience of the Pause

    What happens in a leader's brain in the moment between a trigger and a response? Why does that moment determine whether teams trust each other or fall apart? In this solo follow-up to the conversation with Andrew McNeill of LX Leaders, Richard examines the neuroscience behind reactive vs. responsive leadership, what Google's Project Aristotle and Amy Edmondson's research reveal about psychological safety as a driver of performance, and why vulnerability in leadership isn't about oversharing; it's about calculated courage. The episode also explores fierce compassion (why avoiding hard conversations isn't kindness), research on team charters as a form of trust infrastructure, and why one-off workshops fail where sustained interventions succeed. Includes a five-part Monday Morning Test with actionable steps for individual leaders, teams, and organizations. Guest episode reference: Andrew McNeill, LX Leaders (LXleaders.com)

    26 min

  6. Apr 22

    Mindfulness, Trust, and the Courage to Lead Differently

    Andrew McNeill is a leadership coach, mindfulness teacher, and co-founder of LX Leaders, a partnership helping leaders and teams thrive under pressure. A veteran of UK central government, Andrew served as one of the directors leading the national response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy. This experience crystallized how mindfulness practice directly sustains leadership performance in crisis. In this episode, Andrew and Richard explore the fault line between well-being and performance, and why treating them as separate priorities is one of the most damaging assumptions in organizational leadership today. Andrew shares how burnout drove him to a mindfulness practice that unlocked a promotion he'd been chasing for 7 years, why compassion in leadership requires more courage than aggression, and a powerful team exercise that consistently generates authentic human connection in corporate environments. They also discuss how to measure the impact of mindfulness on team trust and retention, the post-COVID backlash against well-being conversations, and why the next decade will demand leaders who can build genuine human connections rather than manage performance. Whether you're a CHRO navigating return-to-office tensions, a senior consultant working with fractured teams, or a leader questioning whether "soft skills" are actually the hardest ones, this conversation offers a practical framework for leading with both presence and accountability. Find Andrew's work at LXleaders.com and connect with him on LinkedIn.

    45 min

  7. Apr 14

    When Burnout Breaks Your Self-Trust

    Burnout isn't just about being tired. It's a trust crisis, and the most serious damage happens inside. New research shows 55% of the U.S. workforce is experiencing burnout, a six-year high. But the statistics miss something critical: burnout doesn't just exhaust you. It erodes your confidence in your own judgment. Nearly one in four employees reports that workplace stress has significantly reduced their ability to trust their own decisions. In this solo episode, Richard explores the hidden relationship between chronic workplace stress and erosion of self-trust, drawing on insights from his recent conversation with talent development leader Jeremy Hannah and the latest research on burnout, organizational trust, and recovery. In this episode, you'll learn: Why self-trust is the "operating system" that burnout corrupts, and how that affects every other trust relationship The three-part mechanism: how capacity gaps become internalized failure, curiosity dies, and isolation accelerates the spiral What sabbatical research reveals about recovery timelines (hint: it takes longer than you think) How micro-wins, external feedback, and deliberate curiosity rebuild the neural pathways of self-trust The uncomfortable truth about why employees don't speak up, and what leaders miss as a result Plus: The Monday Morning Test with specific action steps for CHROs, COOs, and individual contributors. Whether you're a senior leader trying to understand why your high performers are quietly disengaging, or a professional who's lost confidence in your own judgment without knowing why, this episode names what's happening and offers a path forward. Research cited: Eagle Hill Consulting Workforce Burnout Survey 2025, Aflac WorkForces Report, Microsoft Work Trend Index, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Academy of Management sabbatical research, and more. Companion episode: Interview with Jeremy Hannah, Viante Talent Solutions Connect with Richard: LinkedIn | Substack

    21 min
  8. From Burnout to Breakthrough

    Apr 7

    From Burnout to Breakthrough

    What happens when a successful career starts to feel hollow, and you actually do something about it? Jeremy Hannah spent 20 years in talent management and leadership development, advising Fortune 500 companies on culture transformation, talent strategy, and building people-centered organizations. Then burnout caught up with him. Instead of pushing through, he and his wife, Valerie, made an unconventional choice: they sold almost everything they owned and spent a year traveling to over 20 countries. That sabbatical became the foundation for Viante Talent Solutions, the executive coaching and consulting firm Jeremy now runs from Perth, Australia, the most remote major city on Earth. In this episode, we explore: The slow-burn warning signs of burnout (and why losing your curiosity is a red flag) What it takes to trust yourself enough to step away from a stable career How coaches build trust with skeptical executives in early sessions The difference between making someone uncomfortable vs. making them unsafe Why the "light switch moment" in coaching is the most rewarding—and hardest to manufacture Whether you're a senior leader rethinking your next chapter, an HR professional navigating talent strategy, or someone quietly wondering if a career break is worth the risk, this conversation offers a practical, honest look at what reinvention actually requires. Guest: Jeremy Hannah, ACC | Co-Founder, Viante Talent Solutions | viantetalent.com Connect with Jeremy: LinkedIn @jeremybhannah | Instagram @jeremybhannah

    51 min
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4.7
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Fault Lines explores why trust breaks and how to rebuild it in organizations, leadership, communities, and public institutions. Hosted by Richard Roman, a PhD candidate in organizational leadership and trust strategist, the show translates research into actionable playbooks for senior leaders, consultants, and anyone navigating broken trust. Each episode features researchers, executives, and practitioners unpacking what actually works: workplace culture, team dynamics, institutional credibility, and civic trust. New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe and start building trust where it matters most.

Information

  • Creator
    Richard Roman
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Fault Lines