Toxic workplaces don’t announce themselves clearly. They erode confidence, distort judgement, and normalise behaviour that would never pass scrutiny in a healthy system. Women are often told to cope, adapt, or be more resilient—advice that ignores how power, risk, and psychological safety actually operate at work.
In this episode of Lead to Soar, Michelle Redfern speaks with organisational psychologist Noa Rein about what it really means to survive a toxic or hostile workplace—and how women can assess whether staying is strategic or unsafe.
This is not about enduring bad behaviour or fixing broken cultures from the margins. It’s about understanding warning signs, protecting credibility, and making decisions that preserve long-term options.
Michelle and Noa explore how psychological harm shows up in workplaces, why it disproportionately affects women, and how systems enable toxicity to persist. They also discuss when “hang in there” advice becomes actively dangerous—and how leaders and individuals should recognise that line.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
What psychological safety actually looks like in practice—not in policy documents
How hostile environments undermine judgement, health, and performance over time
Why women are often pressured to tolerate conditions that would end men’s careers
How to distinguish discomfort from real risk
When staying is a strategic choice—and when leaving is the safer one
What leaders must take responsibility for, rather than delegating harm downward
This episode is for women who sense that something isn’t right at work and want a clear-eyed way to assess their environment—without minimising their experience or over-functioning to survive it.
It’s also essential listening for leaders who claim to care about wellbeing but have not examined how power and accountability actually operate in their organisations.
If this episode was useful, there are three simple ways to go further:
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