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Jenn Turner: Lessons in Emotional Safety FTW [JSConf2014]

2,501 views · Published 18 June 2014 · 31:25 · Indexed 25 October 2026

Channel: JSConf · 2014 · Science & Technology

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Emotional safety is the most important predictor of the health of an organization and a community. But more importantly, it has a enduring repercussions on our lives as individuals. Like, our real lives—the ones we live for our whole lives.

I've worked in intensely unsafe professional environments prior to joining the team at &yet.

I'd like to candidly share some of the lessons I've learned from my unique perspective as a female who isn't a software developer but who spends much of her life around them (including co-organizing events like RealtimeConf, RedisConf, and TriConf).

Being "in the developer world but not of it" has given me perspective to identify blind spots within our culture as a company and a community. Traditionally copywriters on a software team are viewed as a supporting role: we help sell what gets made. But what if all contributors to a team were true equals capable of leading and shaping a continuously improving company culture? That's the foundation of emotional safety.

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