Psychological safety is crucial for an organisation’s cultural wellbeing because it creates an environment of trust, open communication and respect, which directly impacts employee health, engagement and performance.
So, what exactly is psychological safety?
The term “psychological safety” was originally coined by Carl Rogers, a humanistic psychologist, in the 1950’s in the context of creating conditions that foster individual creativity and personal growth.
It was further pioneered by Amy Edmondson a prominent American scholar of leadership, teaming, and organisational learning at Harvard Business School. She defines psychological safety as the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, when they will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes
So how can you as a leader cultivate psychological safety?
Here are five suggestions:
1. Lead with vulnerability and openness
Being a leader in not about being perfect. It’s about being real so admit your own mistakes and uncertainties. As a leader it is perfectly ok to say, “Yes I made a mistake on that last decision, and here’s what I’ve learned. This demonstrates a learning and growth mindset and signals to your team that it’s okay to be imperfect and to take risks.
2. Reframe mistakes as learning opportunities
Shifting the focus from blame to curiosity and learning is so helpful and when something doesn’t go according to plan, asking open-ended questions like, “What led to this outcome?” and “How can we improve the situation next time?” rather than “Who is responsible for the mistake?”
3. Encourage people to challenge the status quo
Actively inviting people to challenge and offer different perspectives through respectful debate can be very helpful. Recognise and remember to thank people specifically for speaking up or raising a concern, even if their ideas or thoughts don’t ultimately get take on board. This positively reinforces the point that actively challenging the status quo is encouraged and valued.
4. Demonstrate active and empathetic listening:
When someone in your team speaks up it is so important to listen with an intentional and deep desire to want to understand what they are saying and their motivation behind the words. Too often I see leaders feeling as if they must know all the answers and that isn’t realistic or even possible. Questions are powerful and when we actively listen to what others have to say we learn and create space for wisdom to flourish within our teams.
5. Nourish a culture of psychological safety
It is important to speedily and constructively address any behaviour that undermines psychological safety in our teams, such as disrespectful comments, closing down conversations and belittling any questions that may be asked.
Ultimately psychological safety is about leaders nourishing a culture that is fertile for learning, growth and high performance. It represents a shared belief that the work environment is a safe place for vulnerability and authenticity without fear of negative consequences. This is where the growth happens, and high performing teams thrive.
About the Author
Liggy Webb is an award-winning and best-selling author, presenter, and international consultant. She is also the founding director of LWL, an international consortium of behavioural skills specialists. Liggy is recognised as a thought leader on human resilience and wellbeing, working with a wide range of global organisations across the sector.