Leadership and Moral Injury: Tips to Support Your Team

Moral injury happens when deeply held values are violated, leading to lasting psychological and emotional distress. For public safety personnel, it can stem from difficult ethical choices, leadership challenges, or feeling powerless to prevent harm.

As a leader, understanding moral injury is crucial for fostering resilience, trust, and long-term well-being within your team.

What Leaders Need to Know

The concept of moral injury was first recognized in military and first responder populations, where exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) is common. PMIEs occur when an individual:

• Experiences a violation of their core values or ethical beliefs.

• Witnesses or is involved in actions they perceive as unethical.

• Feels betrayed by leadership, policies, or institutional decisions.

These events can result in moral pain—deep emotional distress that affects an individual’s sense of trust, engagement, and well-being. If left unaddressed, moral pain can weaken team cohesion, impact decision-making, and erode confidence in leadership.

How Moral Injury Affects Teams

Moral injury doesn’t just affect individuals—it shapes team culture, morale, and performance. Public safety professionals who experience moral injury may struggle with:

• Emotional and behavioral shifts – Withdrawal, avoidance, or difficulty engaging with colleagues.

• Declining performance – Increased burnout, lower job satisfaction, or a loss of confidence in decision-making.

• Distrust in leadership – A perceived lack of support or ethical misalignment can damage relationships between frontline teams and management.

• Mental health challenges – Depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicidal ideation may emerge if moral injury goes unaddressed.

As a leader, recognizing these signs early and fostering a culture of transparency, psychological safety, and proactive support is critical in preventing long-term harm.

Your Role as a Leader

Leaders play a critical role in reducing the risk of moral injury and supporting those affected. Consider these key actions:

• Foster open communication – Encourage team members to discuss ethical challenges and process difficult experiences.

• Recognize signs of moral injury – Watch for changes in behavior, mood, or engagement that may signal distress.

• Provide psychological safety – Ensure personnel feel supported and valued, especially following high-stress incidents.

• Address leadership failures transparently – Acknowledge difficult decisions and maintain integrity to sustain trust.

• Connect personnel to resources – Offer access to mental health support, peer networks, and specialized programs for PSP well-being.

What Can Organizations and Leaders Do?

Organizations and leaders play a key role in preventing and addressing moral injury. Effective strategies include:

• Workload management – Rotate staff between high-risk and low-risk roles to prevent burnout.

• Psychological safety – Ensure easy access to mental health support, peer programs, and leadership mentorship.

• Clear guidance & training – Provide decision-making policies, psychological first aid training, and ethical leadership coaching.

• Support networks – Encourage peer support, family assistance, and access to spiritual guidance where needed.

• Leadership accountability – Model self-care, acknowledge challenges openly, and create a culture where seeking support is encouraged.

Because shift workers may experience physical strain, extreme fatigue, and isolation, occupational stressors should be acknowledged and managed as best as possible. Optimal management of shiftwork will help minimize fatigue. Employers should avoid quick shift changes, adjust shift length, and allow employees to participate in the process of designing and implementing their work schedules, including preferred days off. While pleasing all of the people all of the time is nearly impossible to achieve, the goal should be to reach a compromise that satisfies the group as a whole.

Leaders Play a Role in Minimizing the Risk of Moral Injury.

The following can help you support your team’s mental health:

• Listen to your team’s concerns – Engage in walk-arounds or do regular check-ins to understand the types of stressors they’re facing and how they’re coping.

• Promote a supportive culture – By encouraging participation in peer support programs. This helps develop the understanding that others are experiencing similar stressors and that they’re not alone in their experiences.

• Model self-care and positive coping skills and behaviours (e.g., seeking psychological supports) – This lets your team know that it’s safe to do so too.

• Proactively provide support – Many employees will avoid talking about moral stressors.

• Support staff – By directing them to available supports and counselling services.

• Celebrate successes – No matter how small they seem. Be mindful of the appropriateness and timing.

• Ask your employees what they need.

Leaders Can Support Moral Repair By:

• Acknowledging moral distress – Recognize the individual’s emotions without judgment.

• Validating shared values – Reinforce that their moral beliefs are respected and upheld.

• Creating space for dialogue – Listen without rushing resolution; healing takes time.

• Taking responsibility – If leadership failures contributed, acknowledge them transparently.

Leading With Integrity: Addressing Moral Injury

Moral injury is a serious but manageable challenge. Leaders who foster open communication, provide psychological safety, and support ethical decision-making can help their teams navigate moral struggles with resilience. Acknowledging challenges, modeling healthy coping strategies, and taking responsibility when necessary strengthens trust and empowers teams to serve with confidence.

References

1. Bryan, C.J., Bryan, A.O., et al. (2018). “Moral injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal behavior among National Guard personnel.” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(1):36-45. Accessed 4 March 2025.

2. Homewood Health. (2020). “First responder, military and veterans programming treatment manual.” Accessed 4 March 2025.

3. Shay, J. (2012). “Moral Injury.” Intertexts, 16(1):57-66. Accessed 4 March 2025.

4. Williamson, V., Stevelink, S.A.M., & Greenberg, N. (2018). “Occupational moral injury and mental health: Systematic review and meta-analysis.” The British Journal of Psychiatry, 212(6):339-346. Accessed 4 March 2025.