What Leaders Need To Know About Psychological Safety
Psychological safety at work is not a new concept. In these times of rapid change its importance is greatly magnified.
All organisations are increasingly reliant on the agility of their employees. They need them to move and respond quickly to new business challenges.
There are many ways that leaders can support psychologically safety in the workplace, but it is often overlooked as an area that can be influenced. A leader’s role in supporting and leading others should prioritise psychological safety above other factors. For many reasons this does not always occur.
One of the main issues is that psychological safety is a greatly misunderstood expression. It can be easily viewed as being something intangible or emotionally-driven. This makes some leaders feel unable to truly influence it. Some all too easily write it off as just another ‘buzz word’ and in doing so the very real link to effective leadership is lost. In other cases leaders falsely believe that the positive environment that they have created equates to a culture of psychological safety when in fact the opposite is true. Failures of psychological safety are far reaching.
Being clear about what psychological safety looks like in a team is essential for leaders in these current times of rapid change.
Understanding what happens in a psychologically safe culture and the enormous benefits it provides individuals and teams is just the first step in being able to analyse how effectively your leadership in this area currently is. There are common pitfalls to avoid and a few myths to debunk along the way.
We have captured all of our latest critical thinking in a whitepaper that you can download for free today if you have a further interest in how to lead psychologically safety and achieve improved performance in your organisation.
