#11 On Speaking Up And Getting Heard

Psychological safety isn't the absence of discomfort — it's whether speaking up feels worth the risk.

For our first guest episode, we sat down with Nina Rossiana, who previously worked in Anita's team in Indonesia as part of a wider global team. Today, she is the regional representative for Asia at the Swiss Sustainable Coffee Platform. Her postgraduate research looked at voice and silence in global teams, and it reframes psychological safety in a way we haven't stopped thinking about.

We talk about what Nina calls "structural affordability," why silence is often a rational response rather than a personality trait, and how labels, language and distance from HQ quietly decide whose voice gets heard.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why psychological safety is about risk, not comfort

• How labels become self-fulfilling — and quietly silence people

• When openness becomes theater, and what the real test is

• Why fluency gets mistaken for competence in global teams

• How distance from HQ shapes who gets included

About The Catastrophe Café

Join Dr. Fabio Duma and Anita Aerni for honest conversations about the beautiful mess of work, life & everything in between. No polished soundbites — just real dialogue about the challenges we all face and how we make sense of them.

Music by George Hurd

Connect with us:

🌐 www.anitaaerni.org

🌐 www.fabioduma.ch

Season 2 Episodes:

✅ 9. Getting Serious about Joy! (Anita & Fabio)

✅ 10. Living More with Less (about freedom with(out) money)

11. On Speaking Up and Getting Heard (Nina Rossiana)

12. Care, Dare, Share - Secure Base Leadership (Prof. Susan Goldsworthy) - Part 1

13. Care, Dare, Share - Secure Base Leadership (Prof. Susan Goldsworthy) - Part 2

14. Self-Leadership & Reflection (Anita & Fabio)

15. Responsible Leadership (Prof. Antoinette Weibel, HSG)

16. Non-Doing: Why We Should Do Less and Leave More Undone (Fabio's book)