Fostering Vulnerability and Psychological Safety in the Workplace

"The pressure keeps them sharp." An executive client said this to me last week, defending his fear-based leadership style. I bit my tongue. Hard. Because here's what the data actually shows: Fear doesn't sharpen performance. It destroys it. When people feel psychologically safe to speak up, take risks, and be themselves at work, businesses don't just perform better. They dominate. I watched this unfold with a creative leadership team last year. Brilliant minds, struggling to perform as a group. The problem wasn't talent or strategy. It was fear. 💡 Recent BCG research confirms what I've seen: In environments with low psychological safety, 31% of employees are at risk of quitting. In high psychological safety cultures? Just 3%. That's not just a talent advantage. That's crushing the competition on retention alone. But it goes deeper: ✅ Teams with psychological safety are 76% more engaged ✅ They innovate faster and adapt to market changes more effectively ✅ They extract the full value from diverse perspectives and backgrounds The safest teams aren't just happier. They're more profitable. So what builds psychological safety? Here's what works: 💡 Normalize uncertainty. Start meetings by admitting what you don't know. "I'm not sure about the best approach here. What are we missing?" 💡 Thank people for dissent. When someone challenges your idea, respond with "That's helpful perspective. Tell me more." Mean it. 💡 Make it fail-friendly. Replace "Who messed up?" with "What can we learn here?" 💡 Create brave spaces for LGBTQ+ employees and those from underrepresented groups. ⚡ Their psychological safety directly impacts your innovation capacity. ⚡ Share your own mistakes first. ⚡ Nothing builds safety faster than a leader who models vulnerability. This isn't just radical kindness in action. It's radical business strategy. The organizations treating psychological safety as a competitive advantage are quietly outperforming those still using fear as motivation. 💭 Quick reflection: What conversation are you avoiding right now because it feels unsafe? That's where your next breakthrough might be hiding. Tag a leader who makes you feel safe to speak up. They deserve to know their impact. In Community and Kindness, Jim 💡 For more on building psychological safety through radical kindness, check out my newsletter ( Link in Bio)

CEOs, your impact and influence as a cultural architect trickle down into even the smallest interactions. That means you shape the very bedrock of psychological safety within your organization. Why? There’s a power dynamic in every room. As the leader, you are first among equals, yet your mere presence dictates the power dynamic. Positional power is consolidated in your hands. What you say and do can draw people out or make them recoil with anxiety and fear. Take the opportunity to deliberately design that dynamic. If you induce fear, seek admiration, or allow hierarchy to outrank truth, you abdicate your role. But if you nurture psychological safety to unleash the room, you magnify your role and scale your influence and impact. How do you do it? I have 10 suggestions: 1. Assign someone else to conduct the meeting. Visibly redistribute power by leveling yourself down to be more of a player-coach. 2. Don’t sit at the head of the table. In many physical settings, seating reflects the hierarchy, but you can disrupt those rituals. 3. Create warmth and informality. Create an atmosphere of psychological safety to convey warmth and encourage collaboration. 4. Model acts of vulnerability. You have a first-mover obligation to model acts of vulnerability to give others permission to do the same. 5. Stimulate inquiry before advocacy. If you move from asking questions to advocating your position too soon, it softly censors your team and signals the end of the discussion. 6. Reward challenges to the status quo. If you encourage them, your team can help you see your blind spots and tell you when you’re missing. 7. Push back with humor and enthusiasm. Humor and enthusiasm inject excitement into the process and encourage rigorous debate. 8. Buffer strong personalities. Your job is to create a shame- and embarrassment-free environment. 9. Listen and pause. When you do this in the presence of other members of your organization, you send a clear message that the individual matters. 10. Give highly targeted praise and recognition. Don’t withhold or be stingy with it. I'm curious, what would you add to the list? How are your leaders intentionally creating psychological safety in their interactions with others? #psychologicalsafety #4stages #leadershipdevelopment

Tech leaders, it's time to rethink team dynamics. Creating psychological safety is key for fostering… Creativity.  Innovation. High performance. 🚀 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Psychological safety is the foundation of a thriving team culture. It's the belief that team members can safely… speak up, take calculated risks, express their ideas and concerns. When individuals feel safe, it fuels…  collaboration,  problem-solving,  and continuous improvement. 𝟒 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲: 1. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: As a leader, demonstrate vulnerability and openness in your communication and decision-making. Show your team that it's okay to make mistakes and learn from them, fostering a culture of experimentation and growth. 2. 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞: Create opportunities for team members to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback openly and without judgment. Actively listen to their input, validate their perspectives, and respond with empathy and respect. 3. 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲: Embrace diversity of thought, background, and experience within your team. Recognize and appreciate the unique contributions that each individual brings to the table, fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging. 4. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲: Actively promote psychological safety as a core value within your team. Recognize and address any behaviors or dynamics that may undermine safety, such as micromanagement, fear of failure, or lack of trust. Empower your team, drive innovation. Prioritize psychological safety. #PsychologicalSafety #TeamCulture #LeadershipDevelopment 📢 If you found this valuable, share it with your network. Let’s create a ripple effect of growth and learning. 🤝 Follow for daily leadership tips, powered by real world experience.

Prioritizing a culture of psychological safety is the best thing you can do for your business. Why? When you feel safe, you manage ambiguity better. When you feel safe, you make better decisions. When you feel safe, you're more creative and curious. When you feel safe, you take more intelligent risks. When you feel safe, you genuinely collaborate. Your brain is constantly scanning the environment around you looking for cues of safety, or danger. When we sense safety, we're free to notice details, connect dots, lean on others, and tap into our imaginations. When we sense danger, we avoid, hesitate, doubt, and seek control in unhealthy ways -- expending energy on protecting ourselves, rather than doing amazing work. As a leader, and a colleague, there are many ways to cue safety to those around you. Model vulnerability and empathy. Show compassion. Embrace respectful disagreement. Invite honest feedback and be accessible. Actively listen and genuinely participate. Destigmatize failures, learn from mistakes, and explore improvements. All those things that lean into "soft" skills? Do those. A culture that prioritizes psychological safety is a culture that cultivates engagement, productivity, and innovation. When you put psychological safety first, you prioritize the success of your people, and your business. 🧠

Are You Looking to Ignite Your Culture? In today's fast-paced work environment, the importance of fostering a psychologically safe and thriving workplace cannot be overstated. A culture that prioritizes well-being not only leads to happier, more engaged employees, but also significantly reduces the risk of burnout. Here are three actionable tips for leaders to create an environment that truly supports their teams: Normalize Vulnerability and Open Communication: Encourage open dialogues about challenges and setbacks. Create spaces for team members to share their concerns without fear of judgment. Leaders can lead by example, sharing their own experiences and struggles. This helps to take away the weakness of vulnerability and sets a tone of authenticity within the organization. Foster Autonomy and Flexibility: Provide employees with the freedom to manage their own work schedules and tasks to a reasonable extent. Trust your team's judgment and empower them to take ownership of their work. This autonomy not only promotes a sense of responsibility and accountability but also allows individuals to find their own rhythm, reducing the likelihood of burnout. Prioritize Personal Growth and Development: Offer opportunities for skill-building, mentorship, and career advancement. Show genuine interest in your team members' professional aspirations and provide the necessary resources to help them achieve their goals. This not only boosts morale but also instills a sense of purpose and belonging, which are crucial elements of a thriving work culture. By implementing these tailored strategies, leaders can cultivate an environment where employees feel supported, valued, and empowered. This shift from a burnout culture to one that emphasizes psychological safety not only benefits the well-being of individuals but also leads to higher productivity, creativity, and overall organizational success. Together, we can create workplaces that inspire and uplift every member of the team. #ThrivingWorkCulture #PsychologicalSafety #LeadershipTips #leadership #Culture

Today is an awareness day you might not have heard of, and neither had I until quite recently. International Safe Places to Work Day is an annual event dedicated to celebrating organizations and individuals who promote psychological safety in the workplace—places where people feel comfortable speaking up, sharing ideas, and asking questions without fear of negative consequences.   It’s clearly needed: a McKinsey survey found that only 26 percent of leaders were perceived to create psychological safety for their teams. A necessary building block to achieve this is inclusion - ensuring that all colleagues, regardless of their identity or personal attributes, feel equally empowered to contribute meaningfully and bring their whole selves to work. Those who feel excluded are far less likely to challenge and contribute candidly.   It’s easy to assume that everyone feels equally welcome and valued. But when we pause to examine the data—and more importantly, listen to the lived experiences of our colleagues—we begin to recognize that many of our colleagues, particularly those from underrepresented groups, do not feel included.   A day like this is a perfect opportunity to reflect on what more we can do as leaders to shape an environment where everyone feels safe to speak up and share their authentic experience.   Recognizing that for most of us this is something we are always striving to improve; I wanted to share a few practices I am consistently working to do better myself:   •Inviting diverse perspectives and showing genuine openness to consider views that challenge my own thinking •Being mindful of my own unconscious biases and actively working to address them •Embracing mistakes as learning opportunities and showing vulnerability in acknowledging my own flaws / failures •Listening deeply to all voices, especially seeking out those less often heard. •Actively asking for critique (and receiving with authentic gratitude - body language included!) … then acting on it   I’d love to hear other suggestions that can help us close the inclusion and psychological safety gap.   #SafePlacesToWork #PsychologicalSafety #Inclusion #Belonging #Perspective #Leadership      

As a CEO’s coach, I see firsthand how the day-to-day pressure to perform can make it really hard to embrace vulnerability. But even if it might feel contradictory, vulnerability is actually an act of strength. Embracing vulnerability is a powerful catalyst for authentic connections, growth, and innovation, especially at work: 🌱 Being open to vulnerability in the workplace creates psychological safety where employees feel comfortable expressing themselves and taking risks. → Take small steps towards vulnerability, lead with example, share your challenges, and seek support when needed. 🪴 Research conducted by Brené Brown revealed that vulnerability at work leads to social connection and meaningful relationships. → When we acknowledge our limitations and uncertainties, we create an environment where others feel safe to do the same. This sets the stage for collaborative problem-solving and innovative thinking. 🌳 Creating a culture of vulnerability in the workplace can lead to stronger connections, increased trust, and a more inclusive and innovative environment. → It requires leaders to model vulnerability, establish healthy boundaries, and create a safe space for individuals to be their authentic selves. __ #VulnerabilityAtWork #EmotionalAgility #Authenticity #WorkplaceCulture #PersonalGrowth #Teamwork

In my journey of dealing with leaders and teams on matters of inclusion and culture change, I've observed that psychological safety is a universal need. 1️⃣ It's desired by both leaders and employees. 2️⃣ It's vital for productivity and innovation in diverse teams. 3️⃣ It's a proactive concept; It needs to be modelled and practiced. We have some fantastic examples from workplaces like Disney’s Pixar’s Braintrust, where psychological safety has been successfully integrated. However, it's not a goal that can be achieved overnight. It needs groundwork, a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and behaviours at play.💡 As a leader, it's your responsibility to create an environment where everyone understands that vulnerability is not a weakness. It's about creating a space where each one of us can openly share, discuss, and work towards a common goal.🎯 Here are some practices that can be implemented: ✔️ Balance the transactional with the relational. ✔️ Leverage peer-to-peer power. ✔️ Productively engage power. ✔️ Invite vulnerability with a co-responsibility of positive response. ✔️ Model and practice vulnerability. Keep in mind, we are all human and mistakes will happen. The role of a leader here is to rectify the course and let the team learn & grow from the experience.💪 Wondering how you can implement this in your organization? Read more about it here in my blog post: [https://lnkd.in/g86zNdJ5 ] #PsychologicalSafety #Innovation #Teamwork #Leadership

Being open and honest at work is still viewed by many as "being too risky" an undertaking. It's amazing to me that in 2024 we still hear stories where honesty and transparency are openly expressed but, not adhered to in practice. It's as if there are two policies; one that is publicly held and trumpeted by leaders and another privately held, that determines an organization's real behavior. People at work want to speak up because they know well the issues causing organizational dysfunction. These are shared continuously at the water cooler, in small group settings, and are universally known and understood. As a leader, these is the information that I would want / need to know. Wendy Hirsch, in a 2017 article written for ScienceForWork, shares three key points about psychological safety: 1) Psychological safety exists when people feel their team is a place where they can speak up, offer ideas, and ask questions without fear of being punished or embarrassed. 2) Perceptions of psychological safety are strongly related to learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, and experimenting, as well as employee satisfaction. 3) Things that may help to cultivate psychological safety include support from your colleagues and a clear understanding of your job responsibilities. Underlying all three of these points is the realization that we need consistent and collaborative communication with our people and teams at every level every day. Role clarity, peer support, interdependence, learning orientation, and positive leader relations don't happen successfully without this. Managing the execution of your business is similar in that nothing happens without consistent communication. Communication that occurs through: 1) Collaborative (written) development of job responsibilities and annual goals, 2) Goal development focused on driving key organizational initiatives and aligned with others, across business functions, and 3) Oversight and measurement of progress that drives the organization toward its desired outcomes. Without effective communication, none of these activities will matter. When we lack a framework for communicating with our people on a consistent basis and have no common language, we leave the door open to assumptions, misinformation, and other negative activity that causes conflict and erects barriers to progress. Ultimately these challenges delay or derail organizational success. Transparency and honesty require everyone on a team to talk with each other, no matter their rank, position, or title. If we can't call somebody out when necessary, trust is eroded, and we stand to lose the psychological safety we've built into our workplace. Psychological safety is a value worth fighting for. Does your organization have two policies on speaking out? #culture #leadership #psychologicalsafety #execution For more on this topic and other elements of leadership, check out https://lnkd.in/gXpc_pyu

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to moderate a D&I leadership panel discussion with senior claims leaders on psychological safety and belonging in the workplace. Although I wasn’t a panelist, I left the conversation with several personal commitments and reflections. In the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Here are a few notes that I jotted down in my journal. 1.) Safety cannot happen without trust. Before we can assert that our environment is safe, we need to know with certainty that all of our leaders are equipped to build trust across identity differences, and also know how to go about repairing that trust when it’s been broken within the organization. 2.) Always look for opportunities to actively amplify the contributions of those who gone unnoticed, particularly when something they’ve said in a group has gone unaddressed or without credit/reinforcement. (Side note: People want to be heard, seen and valued!) 3.) Show humility and vulnerability by willing to share one’s own mistakes with those you lead, it’s ok for direct reports to see your flaws and how you manage them. Ultimately, psychological safety in the workplace is about providing a safe space for employees to be their full selves. No one wants to leave part of their personality and inner life at home. But to be fully present at work, to feel “psychologically safe,” we must know that we can be free enough, sometimes, to share the things that scare us without fear of rejection. Leadership is hard but it’s so worth it!