Psychological Safety for Managers

The Leader Factor

Psychological safety has been found to be the number one variable in team performance, and in recent episodes we've discussed the most important variable for psychological safety was the leader of the team. As a manager, as a leader of people, you either lead the way or you get in the way. Much of what dictates whether you're leading the way or getting in the way is the way in which you integrate or don't integrate psychological safety into your work.

In this episode of Culture by Design, Tim and Junior discuss exactly how to incorporate psychological safety as a manager, and will introduce you to some tools that'll help you along the way.

What makes a manager good or bad? Effective or ineffective? (02:56) Our ability to manage and to lead depends on how well we interact with others. McKinsey has found that only 15% of managers create a psychologically safe work environment. This is the biggest and most chronic deficiency in all of leadership.

Most managers have not been trained to lead. Why? (12:48) Leadership as an investment activity isn’t profitable short-term. Leading teams and businesses requires much more than technical competence, it requires cultural competence, at the heart of which lies psychological safety.

How do you implement psychological safety on your team? (27:47) When sharing the concept of psychological safety with your team you need to define the term, set clear expectations, enforce those expectations, live those expectations yourself, and reward vulnerability.

Important Links:
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/five-fifty-is-it-safe
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothyclark/2021/06/21/what-psychological-safety-is-not/?sh=72511fc66452
The Ladder of Vulnerability