Damage Is Not Destiny: Rewiring Work, Life, and Leadership
Author of Healing at Work, Professional Speaker and Executive Coach/Consultant
Healing Conversation #1357
— Today we welcome Susan Winchester — a guide for professionals who want to transform career conflict into healing and growth. Susan helps people whose difficult childhoods quietly shape their work lives, turning perfectionism, people-pleasing, and overdrive into sources of insight rather than shame. Her message is simple but powerful: damage is not destiny, and the workplace can be a training ground for new, healthier ways of being.
We’ll explore the idea of the ASDP — the Adult Survivor of a Damaged Past — and the “bumper car” moments that trigger old beliefs in everyday career conflicts. Susan will share why most human suffering springs from unresolved wounds and automatic patterns, how those patterns show up at work, and how practical, research-based tools (career coaching, positive psychology, and neuroplasticity) can rewire responses for better relationships, leadership, and meaning.
We’ll also delve into her book, Healing at Work, co-written with Martha I. Finney: why it was written, the intention behind it, and how readers can use career challenges as opportunities to practice boundaries, self-love, and new behaviors.
Susan J. Schmitt Winchester is the past Chief HR officer for Applied Materials, a Fortune 150 Silicon Valley company, & Rockwell Automation, a Fortune 500 Midwest company.
She is an author & sought-after keynote speaker, TEDx speaker and Executive Coach/Consultant, known for her book, “Healing at Work” with co-author Martha Finney. Healing at Work was recently recognized as an Amazon International Best Seller in 5 countries.
Susan leverages her 36+ years of experience as a Human Resources Executive to help organizations reduce turnover, elevate employee engagement, and boost corporate performance by focusing on innovative strategies to accelerate human potential and performance. She has worked across industries including consumer packaged goods, management consulting, automotive, industrial automation, technology, banking, and semiconductors. She has lived, worked, and studied, both in the US and in Europe.
Susan’s passion lies in teaching and inspiring executives, leaders, and professionals to discover greater self-acceptance, fulfillment, and joy at work and in life.
She is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources, the highest professional honor for leaders in HR.
