#### **Psychological Safety Defined**

Harvard Business Schools Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as A belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.

While Timothy Clark, author of "The Four Stages of Psychological Safety" (below) describes it as an environment of rewarded vulnerability.

What is psychological safety?

Harvard Business Schools Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as A belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.

While Timothy Clark, author of "The Four Stages of Psychological Safety" (below) describes it as an environment of rewarded vulnerability.

The [4 Stages of Psychological Safety](https://www.leaderfactor.com/4-stages-of-psychological-safety) 

1.  Inclusion Safety: I am worthy, I belong and I feel safe to be here
2.  Learner Safety: Im growing, its safe for me to be a learner, I can ask questions and I can show up and not have all the answers
3.  Contributor Safety: I am making a difference somewhere where its safe to contribute my ideas, vision, hopes and dreams
4.  Challenge Safety: Here it safe for me to challenge the status quo and help to fix whats not working

Author of Dare to Lead, and past Growth Faculty speaker Dr. Brene Brown often talks about psychological safety, explaining Vulnerability is risk, uncertainty and emotional exposure.

In its simplest terms, psychological safety means having our human needs met in the workplace.

Ensuring psychological safety at work is not just the right thing to do, it's becoming the law. Under Australia's [Work Health and Safety](https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/model-code-practice-managing-psychosocial-hazards-work) (WHS) laws, people running a business must **eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks** so far as is reasonably practicable.

As a result of this and the rise in interest in wellbeing post-COVID, psychological safety is a hot topic amongst executives, leaders and HR teams. They understand how making people feel safe and wholly accepted at work directly affects their wellbeing, engagement, and productivity.

Ahead of our 2024 events with none other than organisational psychologist Adam Grant - [Adam Grant LIVE: WorkLife Reimagined](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/event.php?eventId=a1J9g000000R00ZEAS) - lets look at psychological safety and the learnings from our popular masterclass led by Kylie Lewis.

[\*\*Free Download\*\* : 10 Leadership Qualities That Will Help Solve Challenges in 2023](https://thegrowthfaculty.ac-page.com/leadershipqualities)

Certified Dare to Lead facilitator, **Kylie Lewis** returned to Growth Faculty with a masterclass to help organisations understand why **cultivating psychologically safe workplaces** was a critical step toward building a high-performing team, with content based on the works of Amy Edmondson.

#### _"I think there's a lot of latent untapped talent because people are not making it psychologically safe enough to get that talent and put it to good work."_ - **Amy Edmondson** , Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School

Were collectively experiencing volatile, unsettling, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) times of global disruption where our traditional day-to-day experiences  commuting, working, socialising, attending school or gyms  were all pushed inside.

While inside these small places and with nothing but time, we have been forced to look inwards. To look at what we value, how we show up in our daily lives (and at work), and the support we need to feel safe, navigate change and thrive.

2022 MIT research into psychological safety in the workplace by Sull, Sull & Zweig and the top predictors of attrition during [_the great resignation_](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/the-great-resignation-is-not-over/) revealed:  **a toxic culture is 10.4 times more likely to contribute to attrition than compensation.**

From the same research, a toxic culture was highlighted as one that is **disrespectful, non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat** and **abusive** and is **45% driven by leadership**.

Yet, _more than 90% of North American CEOs and CFOs believe that improving their corporate culture would boost financial performance._ And  _more than 80% also acknowledged that their organisations culture was not as healthy as it should be._

So thats the organisational impact, but what about the impact on us as human beings?

### **Toxic Workplaces**

The research also revealed that _Toxic workplaces impose serious and lasting harm on affected employees. Workers who experience the elements of a toxic culture are more likely to suffer from greater stress, anxiety, depression and burnout. They are also 35% to 55% more likely to be diagnosed with a serious physical disease._

Why psychological safety?

### **Absence of Psychological Safety in The Work**

Have you ever experienced the following at work?

*   Felt excluded in a social setting
    *   Been afraid to ask a question
    *   Remained silent when you knew the answer to a question
    *   Had the credit stolen for something you did
    *   Been ignored in a discussion
    *   Been rudely interrupted in a meeting
    *   Felt that you were the target of a negative stereotype
    *   Faced retaliation for challenging the status quo
    *   Had a boss who asked for feedback but really didnt want it
    *   Been publicly shamed or made fun of
    *   Been punished for making an honest mistake
    *   Been made to feel inferior

In research by LeaderFactor, 55% of survey respondents reported that at least one of these things had happened to them in the prior 24 hours.

#### **Quiet Quitting**

As a result, were now seeing this new trend of **quiet quitting** , where employees no longer feel like they should put up with these toxic cultures and reduce the effort they put into their work.

Kylie asked our audience how they showed up at work when they didnt feel psychologically safe, or when there was a toxic culture and answers included:

*   Felt silenced
    *   Closed off/shut down/gave up
    *   Withdrawing/avoiding talking
    *   Fearing for my job
    *   Feeling judged
    *   Wasn't my real self
    *   Felt disillusioned
    *   Cried
    *   Felt lost
    *   Stopped trying
    *   Feeling anxious and burning out

### **Characteristics of Toxic Leaders**

When asked to describe the characteristics of their leader(s) from the same example, their responses included:

*   Critical
    *   Favourtism/holding secret meetings
    *   Talking a lot
    *   Controlling
    *   Judgemental/making negative assumptions
    *   Dictating/micromanaging
    *   Absent/nothing
    *   Gaslighting
    *   Autocratic/egotistical/elitist
    *   Not listening, not empowering
    *   Made crazy decisions

Returning to Donald and Charles Sulls research for MIT; _..leadership consistently emerged as the best predictor of toxic culture._ _The importance of leadership will surprise no one, but it does underscore a fundamental reality: Leaders cannot improve corporate culture unless they are willing to hold themselves and their colleagues accountable for toxic behaviour._

### **Psychological Safety in The Work**

Turning again to our masterclass attendees, Kylie then asked them what it felt like to be part of a great team. Answers included:

*   Empowered and inspired
    *   Supported and valued, and the work flows easily
    *   Acceptance and belonging
    *   Energised and felt good about themselves
    *   Motivated and productive
    *   Encouraged to have healthy debate
    *   Ideas and creativity flowed
    *   Fun, positive and safe
    *   Went above and beyond what was asked
    *   Happy
    *   Shared, challenged and had fun!

### **Traits of Psychologically Safe Leaders**

And the characteristics of leaders where there was psychological safety?

*   Brought out my best game
    *   I was trusted
    *   Had very good Emotional Intelligence
    *   Open to ideas
    *   Empowering
    *   Really listening
    *   Approachale, listening, encouraging
    *   Inclusive and offered opportunities
    *   Kept us informed and encouraged

In [The Fearless Organisation: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/blog/psychologicalsafetyedmondsonfearlessworkplace) author Amy Edmonson explains that psychological safety can exist in one team and not another and that its possible for [pockets of toxic culture to exist where the leaders are modeling the negative behaviour](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/blog/Toxicworkplaceculture&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1701732320633668&usg=AOvVaw32W95jCv_-BLzgmRDSaFl3) described above. Its important we scan our entire business to identify where the problems exist.

Where an organisation is fearless, and psychological safety exists there is:

*   **Inclusion and diversity**. When team members feel included, they are more inclined to speak up, contribute and add to the group
    *   **Willingness to help**. In safe teams, people are willing and able to help each other and feel appreciated by team members
    *   **Attitude to risk and failure**. Teams learn from mistakes and adapt; they take risks and continue making forward momentum
    *   **Open conversation**. A team that has open and candid conversations can tackle hard problems better

How a lack of psychological safety shows up in the workplace

Kylie referenced three high-profile cases where the employees didnt feel they could speak up or provide feedback and were actively discouraged by leaders from doing so:

* **A fear of being viewed negatively**

3 blockers to psychological safety

When the company was finally found out for manipulating and cheating emissions tests, known in the media as [ _Dieselgate_](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-16/volkswagen-audi-skoda-agree-to-settle-up-to-$127.1m/11515660) , employees reported experiencing  _A reign of terror and a culture where performance was driven by fear and intimidation._

* **Feeling as if they dont have enough experience**

Volkswagen  False reporting of emissions by programmers

The success of Nokia with the invention and acceleration of the mobile phone was on an upward trajectory until circa 2008 when its leaders didnt want to hear about market trends leading to the brands rapid decline. Of the companys leader, one employee said _It was very difficult to tell him thinks he didnt want to hear_ and, _They wanted good news rather than a reality check._

* **Feeling that the organisations hierarchy is intimidating or unsupportive**

Nokia - Leaders didnt want to know about changes happening in the industry

The engineer who first spotted parts breaking off from the shuttle upon take-off felt the power difference between himself and the leader of the mission was too great, despite the risk this posed to the returning astronauts and future missions. _I just couldnt do it $speak up in the meeting$. Im too low down and she is way up there._

A lack of psychological safety poses dangerous consequences for organisations through deadly silences, avoidable mistakes, underperformance and low utilization of capable resources. And as we are seeing in todays talent market high attrition.

For the individuals caught in the crossfire, the impacts are even worse, causing anxiety, depression and even loss of human life.

Ask yourself, how safe is it in your business for you to tell leaders what they dont want to hear?

NASA  Space shuttle Colombia disaster

In times of turbulence and stress, its the quality of the relationships with our colleagues with whom weve built trust through vulnerable conversations, empathy, connection and care that get us through.

Whether its during marketing campaign planning, ideas workshops or strategy development, an overwhelming 88% of our masterclass participants agreed that higher-performing teams produce more errors, not less, than underperforming ones.

Why?

Because they were **comfortable taking risks, making mistakes** and **getting things wrong**.

In a high-performing team with high levels of psychological safety, people collaborate and learn in the service of high performance to get complex and innovative work done. This is where we all want to be.

Psychological safety and high-performance

Source: [_https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-fearless-organization/201906/fly-the-wall-in-fearless-organization_](https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-fearless-organization/201906/fly-the-wall-in-fearless-organization)

The leaders job is to create and nurture the culture your team needs to do their best work, anytime you play a role in doing that, you are exercising leadership.

Here are Kylies 10 tools to experiment with in your workplace to foster psychological safety.

Try these 10 tools to foster psychological safety

In team members and individuals, it could sound like this:

* Weve got some new information wed like to share 
  * Somethings been troubling me. Do you have ten minutes to talk about it? 
  * Some of this is not good news. Is this an okay time to dig in? 
  * I mentioned the problem to the team and weve got some ideas 
  * Ive hit a roadblock/ Ive got to go back to square one/ Ive made a mistake 
  * We tried an experiment, and it didnt go as expected 
  * Theres been an uptick in X, and we cant explain it yet 
  * Im not sure who to approach for this kind of thing/ the level of detail you like to hear/ whats the best procedure for bringing up a concern 
  * Let me recheck that for you, it should only take a minute 
  * We need another pair of eyes. Best to spend a minute/hour/day/week on that now 
  * I dont feel right about this. Can we do a hard stop right here?

In leaders and managers, it sounds like this:

* This is totally new territory for us, so Im going to need everyones input 
  * There are many unknowns/ things are changing fast/ this is complex stuff. So, we **will** make mistakes 
  * Okay, thats one side. Lets hear some dissent/ whos got something to add/ lets have some give-and-take 
  * Lucy, you look concerned. Giles, you havent said much. Adrian, what are you hearing in your department/ calls/ from customers? 
  * What assumptions are we making? What else could this be/ could we investigate/ have we left out? 
  * What are you up against? What help do you need? Whats in your way? 
  * Did everything go as smoothly as we would have liked? What were the friction points? Are there systems we should retool? 
  * If youve got something to add, just $mention alternative channels of communication$ 
  * Thank you for that clear line of sight. 
  * I really appreciate you bringing this to me. Im sure it wasnt easy.

1.Learn the language of psychological safety and invite airing and sharing 

* If you mistake on this team, its not held against you 
  * Members of this team are able to bring up tough issues 
  * People on this team are not rejected for being different 
  * It is safe to take a risk on this team 
  * It is easy to ask other members of this team for help 
  * No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts 
  * Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilised

2.Use these questions to measure levels of fearlessness in your team 

Dont come to work in your armour or put on a show. As humans we are hard-wired to seek connection, which can only happen when we are truly ourselves.

Kylie encouraged us all to be more like the news reader whose kids interrupted a live broadcast while he worked from home during the pandemic and just be our authentic selves\!

3.Lead from the front

4.The leaders toolkit for building psychological safety

1. Frame the work: Set expectations about failure, uncertainty and interdependence to clarify the need for voice 
  2. Emphasize purpose: Identify whats at stake, why it matters and for whom

Set the stage  shared expectations and meaning

1. Demonstrate situational humility: Acknowledge gaps 
  2. Practice proactive inquiry: Ask good questions and model intense listening 
  3. Set up systems, structures and processes: Create forums for input and provide guidelines for discussion

Invite participation  confidence that voice is welcome

1. Express appreciation: Listen, acknowledge and thank 
  2. De-stigmatise failure: Look forward, offer help, discuss, consider and brainstorm next steps 
  3. Sanction clear violations: Clarify boundaries and hold accountable without shame or blame

Kylie recommends businesses accept that there is always more to learn and promote it, We never arrive at a destination, to create an exciting workplace.

Respond productively  orientation towards continuous learning (= high performance!)

Kylie recommends making __ risk-taking the norm\! Talk about your experiments, what youre trying, what youre learning  this is vulnerability.

To do so, give teams a guide for what they should be shooting for, and decide on it together.

At Google, teams say that having a framework around team effectiveness and a **forcing function** to talk about these dynamics had been missing previously and is by far the most important part of cultivating psychological safety.

* A 10-minute pulse check on their five dynamics of teamwork; **psychological safety, dependability, structure & clarity, meaning **and **impact**
  * Installing a new group norm  kicking off every team meeting by sharing a risk taken the previous week

Red Hat took to Miro to document their ways of working, which everyone on the team signed. It includes best practice examples, prompting questions, and sharing of team news.

Similarly, teams at Atlassian leverage Trello to document instructions for teamwork, brainstorm ideas, agree on next steps as a team, and bench ideas that arent working or arent appropriate right now but they want to come back to\!

5.Set up a team agreement

Psychological safety is not the absence of discomfort; its being able to navigate discomfort in a different way.  _If we avoid conflict to keep the peace_ , Kylie shared, _then you start a war inside yourself._

One leader she referenced calls these difficult conversations with her team  **_Carefrontations_** . If youre struggling with this with your team, try these conversations starters:

_I care about you / I care about your development and growth / I care about your wellbeing / I care about your reputation, your impact and the value of the work were doing together_

_ to have this conversation. This is my intention._

Leadership is our duty of care with one another, otherwise known as a rumble to quote Dr. Brene Brown said Kylie, whom herself is a certified Dare to Lead facilitator.

Read more about vulnerability and how to rumble in a previous summary of Kylie teachings [ _10 Barriers to a Courageous Culture based on Brene Browns research_](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/blog/barrierstocourageouscultureBreneBrown) .

6.Get comfortable being uncomfortable

According to the Ethics Centre, there are [_2 kinds of safe spaces required in the workplace_](https://ethics.org.au/there-is-more-than-one-kind-of-safe-space/).

_In_**_safe from_**_spaces_

* _People are safe from threats to their wellbeing_
  * _These include spaces where they know they will be safe from prejudice intolerance, racism, sexism, discrimination or trauma_

At Western Sydney University, their safe from spaces include a Womens Room women-identifying nd non-binary students, staff and visitors. Their Queer Room _is a safe place where all people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, or otherwise sex and/ or gender diverse can relax in an accepting and inclusive environment._

_In_**_safe to_**_spaces_

* _We can express ourselves authentically and engage in good faith with others around difficult, controversial and even offensive topics_
  * **_Safe to_**_spaces are necessary to help us engage with, and reduce long-term harm from a lack of psychological safety_

In practice, for a **_safe to_**__ space to work, it needs a different set of norms that enable people to speak, and listen, in good faith.

At Pixar, their production teams **_safe to_** space or Brainstrust as it is known follows the following guidelines:

* Its made up of a group of colleagues that have expertise and empathy $peer to peer$ 
  * The Brainstrust has no authority $the Director can take or leave the feedback$ 
  * Give and take honest, specific notes $candor$ 
  * The all share each others success

7.Create safe spaces

In this exercise, participants are invited to table what they are explicitly afraid of and encourage an environment where this fear can be discussed and hopefully, dispelled.

Leaders should take the lead and normalise the behaviour by sharing their fears first and helping to overcome some of the things which stop us from doing great work.

An example could be a sales director:

* Fear  Losing a big sale 
  * Mitigation  Sales team weekly meetings to highlight risky opportunities 
  * Target Norm  If we lose a sale, we know we did everything we could

8.The Fear Conversation

To foster **Inclusion Safety** , our 1st stage of psychological safety, Kylie suggests inviting teams to create and share their own personal user manual which can include:

* Id describe myself as 
  * I do my best work when 
  * My current working patterns are 
  * I prefer communicating in these ways 
  * When Im stressed, the best way to support me is 
  * These are same things going on outside of work which are useful and helpful for you to know 
  * Others say that Im

This tool is particularly effective when managing hybrid and remote teams.

9.The User Manual of Me

To encourage **Learner Safety** , Kylie recommends coming together as a team and uniting them through learning either in a separate cohort or by adding it as an agenda item to an existing meeting.

Share what youre learning, share past mistakes, ask for help from those of lower status, share your personal learning goals, help team members set their own goals and reinforce your learning potential.

Kylies final advice for leaders and teams - Experiment and practice\!\! Not all of these tools will work for you or your team, however, normalise taking a chance\!

10.Have a Failure Party

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Note: This article was updated May 10 and September 14, 2023

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