Is Psychological Safety Misunderstood and Undervalued?

I recently led a workshop on conflict management and communications with a group of healthcare leaders, and a recurring theme emerged: the fear of speaking up. Despite the critical nature of their roles, many felt unable to openly share their ideas, concerns, or mistakes.

When we delved deeper, the challenges became clear. Leaders described a culture where owning up to errors felt like career suicide, delivering tough feedback was seen as confrontational, and disagreeing in meetings was often met with defensiveness. This is the antithesis of psychological safety, which Amy C. Edmondson defines as the belief that the work environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Overcoming barriers to open dialogue like the ones I briefly described can lead to significant individual growth, foster organizational innovation, and, most importantly, improve patient outcomes. 

As a leader, you have a significant responsibility to foster psychological safety within your organization. Even without company-wide systems and structures, you can create the conditions for psychological safety. This doesn’t mean you need to be nice at all costs, set low standards, support every employee's idea, or give team members free rein to talk about their emotional challenges. It means you can set the tone and lead by example. 

Edmondson lays out many suggestions for creating a psychologically safe organization in her book, The Fearless Organization. What I would humbly add is that you can also begin to reflect on the following questions: 

  • Failure: How comfortable are you with failure or making mistakes? Do you avoid risks because you fear looking incompetent? What hold does perfectionism have on you? Do your actions signal to your team that it's safe to make mistakes? What processes do you have for responding to failure?

  • Feedback: Many believe in giving and receiving feedback, but we avoid the most challenging conversations out of discomfort or fear that we will harm others and damage relationships. Giving feedback is kind because it allows others to grow and share their meaning. Withholding it disrespects another’s capacity to develop and assumes they aren’t resilient. Your openness to giving and soliciting feedback sets the tone for the entire team. 

  • Input: What structures do you have to ensure employees can provide input to strategic decisions, process improvements, or proposed changes that impact them? Are you genuinely interested in your team's ideas? Do you encourage others to disagree with you or help improve your strategies? Curiosity and an appreciation for diverse skills and solutions fuel innovation and are a cornerstone of a psychologically safe workplace.

Need help? If you need support creating a psychologically safe work culture, please email hello@kristenarterburn.com or schedule a free 30-minute call here.

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