October Program Meeting - Psychological Safety Done Right: High Quality Questions That Yield High Quality Connection
Presented by Katherine Fry
Psychological safety has become a workplace buzzword — yet many organizations struggle to create it in real, lived interactions. Policies, values statements, and “open door” messaging aren’t enough. Psychological safety is built (or broken) in everyday conversations — through the quality of questions leaders ask.
In Psychological Safety Done Right, HR professionals learn how high-quality questions drive trust, openness, engagement, and meaningful connection. This workshop teaches why the questions we default to under pressure often shut down dialogue — and how intentional, curiosity-based questions invite insight, accountability, and collaboration instead.
Through practical examples, real HR scenarios, and immediate application, participants will learn how to replace judgment-based, closed, or performative questions with high-quality questions that foster psychological safety, deepen relationships, and improve outcomes across hiring, employee relations, performance management, and leadership conversations.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Explain the role of high-quality questions in creating psychological safety. Participants will understand how curiosity-based, open-ended questions reduce defensiveness, increase trust, and encourage honest communication.
- Identify common questioning patterns that undermine psychological safety. Attendees will recognize how assumptions, leading questions, “why” questions, and solution-jumping limit connection and shut down meaningful dialogue.
- Apply high-quality questioning techniques to real HR and leadership scenarios. Participants will practice reframing everyday HR questions to improve outcomes in interviews, feedback conversations, employee relations, conflict resolution, and team discussions.
- Shift from judgment and control to curiosity and collaboration. Attendees will learn how intentional language choices help leaders move from telling and fixing to coaching and partnering.
Also, at this program, attendees will develop a personalized Questioning Action Plan. Participants will identify specific situations where upgrading their questions will immediately strengthen connection, psychological safety, and influence.
Katherine Fry, SHRM-SCP
Executive Coach | Burnout Expert | Thought Intelligence™ Pioneer
While many professionals lose steam in the second half of their careers, Katherine Fry’s passion and perseverance are only accelerating.
Her career vision is bold: to revolutionize the HR profession by replacing archaic leadership and management practices with approaches rooted in neuroscience.
Katherine has been named the 2024 and 2025 Top Burnout Coach in the United States by Evergreen Awards and Best Future of Work Keynote Speaker by Biz Weekly.
She is the CEO and founder of Marble Peak Consulting and creator of Refresh HR, a first-of-its-kind app, providing HR professionals and people leaders with 24/7, on-demand access to 100+ accredited SHRM and HRCI recertification workshops.
As president of Elevate HR and founder of HR Empower Hour, Katherine is the driving force being a growing, modern-day movement that helps HR professionals reclaim their energy, amplify their influence, and transform organizational culture from the inside out.
Her signature framework, the ETHOS Method, improves leaders’ mental health in less than five minutes a day; proving that meaningful change doesn’t require more time, rather, just practice with a powerful, proven tool.
Her breakthrough workshop, Ditch the PIP, went viral in 2023 and has guided 15,000+ HR leaders worldwide to replace outdated performance improvement plans with a neuroscience-backed, six-step framework that drives accountability and measurable performance gains.
Her most-requested keynote, Thought Intelligence™: The Unknown Prerequisite to Emotional Intelligence in the AI Era, equips leaders to upgrade their thinking, unlearn ineffective leadership habits, and implement strategies that beat burnout—both individually and organizationally.
Known for her high-energy delivery, science-backed insights, and immediately actionable tools, Katherine is a three-time speaker for HRCI’s global audience with a three-part-series launching in 2026, trusted executive coach to senior HR leaders and a sought-after keynote speaker and workshop presenter for SHRM chapters across the country.
Katherine doesn’t just teach Thought Intelligence™—she embodies it. As an ultra-runner, skier, environmental advocate, and volunteer, she finds renewal and growth in nature, perspective through travel, and joy in her family and community near Aspen, Colorado.
Katherine’s mission is clear: to empower people who empower people with Thought Intelligence™.
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