Event Details

North Star SHRM will be hosting a virtual education session titled: 

Exploring the Intersection of Psychological Safety, Imposter Syndrome & Leadership Development

by Denise McClennen

This is a virtual presentation via Zoom on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. All North Star SHRM members are invited to attend. There is no cost to attend. 

For the meeting link, log into the North Star SHRM website and click "Virtual Meeting Log-in" under Meetings & Events on the left side.

The target audience for this seminar is HR professionals and business owners.

Session Description:
In this thought-provoking session, we explore the dynamic interplay between psychological safety, impostor syndrome, and vertical development—and how they form a complex cycle that can either limit or accelerate high performance. Each of these elements contributes to, and is influenced by, the others in a cause-and-effect loop that shapes both individual and organizational growth.

By illuminating how these components influence one another, attendees will gain insights into building a culture that not only reduces self-doubt but also actively promotes personal growth, courageous conversations, and sustainable high performance.

Class Objectives:

1. Understand the Cycle of Psychological Safety and Growth: Learn how psychological safety serves as both a cause and a result of individual growth, and how this affects the experience of impostor syndrome.
2. Uncover the Role of Impostor Syndrome in Development: Explore how impostor syndrome can act as a barrier to vertical development and high performance and discover strategies for managing it effectively within a safe environment.
3. Examine Vertical Development’s Impact on Mindset and Culture: Understand the stages of vertical development and how growth through these stages empowers individuals to create psychological safety and overcome self-doubt.
4. Understand and Address Intersecting Forces in the Workplace: Analyze how psychological safety, impostor syndrome, and vertical development influence one another to shape performance, and gain actionable strategies to foster self-awareness, personal growth, and a culture where every individual can contribute at their highest potential.

Speaker Bio:
Veteran executive coach and thought leader, Denise McClennen, has dedicated her career to helping individuals solve their own dilemmas, create a roadmap for their own lives, and make a unique contribution to the world. Denise founded Thought Design in 2013 to give physical space to her dream of leading high-performance thinking programs for the high-level thinkers in her classes. Denise has made the design of powerful learning experiences her life’s work, and when that work meets people who are ready to learn how to think deeply, act courageously, and take some risks along the way… well, that’s the dream. That’s Thought Design. Specializing in neuroscience, vertical development, and complexity, Denise has worked with organizations across the world. She holds certifications with Fearless Organization (FOS Psych Safety Scan), Tilt365 Positive Influence Predictor, NeuroLeadership Institute (Certified Coach), Enneagram (Train-the-Trainer), E-Learning Instructional Design (USC Irvine), DiSC, Conscious Leadership Coach, Imposter Syndrome Institute (Associate and Certified Coach), Cynefin Foundations, The Neuroscience Academy, Growth Edge Coaching/Growth Edge Network, and Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Assessment, and she is a member of both The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and The NeuroLeadership Institute.

Denise leads her team at Thought Design in developing unique learning experiences to generate insight and inspire better thinking. Her passion for the success of others manifests itself in the halls of Thought Design, where high-potential people learn to do what it takes to be their best selves. Outside of her professional work, Denise and her husband live in Punta Gorda, Florida. She is also a mother to five adults and grandmother to seven growing-so-fast kids, who play an important role in helping her decide where she spends her free time.