Leading Change in Etna Township: Fostering Psychological Safety and Operational Success

New Book, Audio, and Kindle: History, Awareness, Prevention in Etna

Dateline: May 19th, 2026, by Jon Hanson, Ph.D.

Over the past five years, except for more than a year off with Nita during her cancer treatment, I have worked on the coursework to complete my Ph.D. and the dissertation since last August. This qualitative study is based on the interviews of 12 residents and a few former employees. There is little of my opinion as the researcher (nor was it allowed). Any university that is classified as a research degree-granting institution by the Carnegie Classifications follows a structured process. I had three Drs. on my committee, who suggested (required) rewrites, which took roughly 6 months. The theoretical basis of the Etna Leadership inquiry relies on Edmondson’s Psychological Safety, Transformational and Servant Leadership, and Lewin and Kotter et al.’s Change Management.

This is an academic review of leadership, human interaction, and the dynamics and problems of change. I have tried to keep it readable and useful. One of my challenges has been to fit my sarcastic voice into academic speak for Good Debt, Bad Debt (Penguin, 2007), to complete the 182-page dissertation, with 70 pages of references and backup material. I am still learning at my advanced age and will continue to learn until I assume room temperature. My Ph.D. degree is in Leadership and Business, but really, a research degree can teach you only to learn, write reports, and investigate the problem at hand. And, of course, there’s never a shortage of problems.

If you read or listen to Chapter One, the introduction, and Chapter Five, the conclusions and recommendations, you get a decent idea of the participants’ results (Chapter Four has all the findings). Chapter Five connects the findings to the academic research that supports them. This is a snapshot of the board of trustees from 2022 through the end of 2025 (4 years).

Toxic leadership was often brought up, and it is easy to see the operation of the Toxic Triangle throughout the study. Padilla (2007) and Tepper (2008) found that one toxic leader (or destructive leader) could derail and destroy an organization. Briefly, the Toxic Triangle depends on three things: a toxic leader, a conducive environment, and a few followers willing to be colluders or conformers (indifferent to the drama).

No one is called by name in the study; the trustees are labeled A, B, and C. The 12 participants are labeled P-1 through P-12 with their direct quotes. While some participants may be identifiable from their words, most will not.

Prevention: The idea is not to specifically call out trustees who served on the 2022-2025 board. The idea is for the community to identify destructive behavior before voting for a new trustee. Etna should be aware that while we are not choosing church deacons or leaders, most churches have one very useful rule: if the candidate cannot run their own personal lives successfully, they should not be in a position to affect spending or the direction of the township. A candidate should have identifiable evidence of people skills, the ability to get along with others, and, most of all, the ability to continue learning.
Jon Hanson, Ph.D. Etna, Ohio.

P.S. I have to turn off comments, because they just pack up with 100’s of bots posting ads and spam. Email: news@etnatoday.com with any comments.