Psychological Safety

Psychological safety, how to build a culture where people speak up. That's what we'll be talking about today on how to lead the podcast for CEOs, founders, and leaders Who want the perfect balance of authority and empathy. I'm Kate Waterfall Hill, and I'll be sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development.

Before we start, don't forget to check out my free resources, my book, and my coaching programs, all at waterfallhill.co.uk. Today we'll be talking about something that underpins performance, innovation, trust, and retention. It often gets dismissed as fluffy or just one of those corporate buzzwords, and that is psychological safety.

It is not just about being nice, it's about creating a climate where people feel safe to take interpersonal risks, to speak up, share ideas, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and admit mistakes without fear of humiliation or punishment without it, teams tend to stay quiet, play small, and avoid risk, but with it, they solve problems faster, innovate more often, and build stronger relationships.

Let's start, as always with Linda, the bad manager. Our favourite example of how not to foster psychological safety.

“What I don't understand about this team is that you never seem to innovate. You never come up with any creative ideas. You never problem solve. You're not coming to my door with things to do and how to take things forward and new ideas for efficiency or making more money or anything like that. It's all just, just going through the motions, just doing what you're told all the time.

Why can't you take any initiative? Why can't you come up with some good ideas? You do come up with ideas, but I just criticise them right? Then I seem to jump in and problem solve or come up with a better idea, or at least an idea that I think is better and I force it on you. And because I'm always coming up with suggestions and solutions, then it sort of stops you taking any in for yourself because you stop thinking for yourselves now.

So I've infantilised you a little bit, taking your empowerment away. Okay, I've listened to what you've had to say and we're gonna try a new thing now. You are gonna come up with all the ideas, you're gonna be the problem solvers, and I'm just gonna sit back and let you come to me with all your creativity and innovation and how we're gonna do that is exactly like this.

We're gonna follow this process. Oh, I'm doing it again, aren't I?”

Yes. She hasn't quite got the hang of it, has she? But let's talk about what psychological safety actually means and how you can build it properly. So what does it mean, first of all, and why does it matter? Psychological safety is a term coined by Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson. She defines it as a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.

It's not just a warm, fuzzy feeling, it's about risk, specifically interpersonal risk, the kind that makes people hesitate before saying, I think there might be a mistake in the data, or, I'm not sure we're heading in the right direction. In low safety environments, people stay silent. In high safety ones, they speak up and the entire team benefits.

If you'd like some evidence, then in 2016, Google's massive two year research project called Project Aristotle found that the single most important factor in high performing teams wasn't talent. Or tenure or experience. It was psychological safety. They studied 180 teams and found that where psychological safety was high, people were more innovative, more collaborative, and more likely to stay.

So this isn't just fluffy stuff, it's performance critical. what does it look like in practice? What does a psychologically safe team look like? Well, it's a place where people ask questions without fear of looking stupid.

They raise concerns early before things go wrong, which is quite important and useful. They offer feedback even to more senior colleagues and they share their ideas freely. Even the slightly out there ones, they admit mistakes without panicking. That's really important. The last thing you want is somebody covering up their mistake.

And lastly, they're not embarrassed to ask for help, and it's not just what they do, it's how they feel. People in psychologically safe teams report lower stress, higher job satisfaction, and greater competence to take on stretch tasks.

Now compare that to what happens when psychological safety is missing. People stay quiet. Innovation stalls. Errors go unreported. Frustration builds. Meetings become echo chambers and leaders wonder why no one brings them the truth until it's too late.

If you're noticing a lack of openness or initiative in your team, Chances are something is threatening psychological safety. So let's have a look at some of the common culprits.

Firstly, fear of being judged or ridiculed. If people see others being dismissed, laughed at or shot down, they'll stay quiet. Punishing mistakes of every error, results in finger pointing or public shaming. People will start hiding problems. Inconsistent behaviour from leaders. This is a common one I see when leaders say, speak up, but react defensively.

People learn to zip it. And the lack of clarity around expectations. I'll talk about clarity a fair bit, because if people don't know what's expected or what good looks like, then they tend to hesitate to act.

Then there's underlying biases and microaggressions when some people are constantly interrupted, ignored, or second guessed, psychological safety erodes fast. This is why safety isn't just about culture. It's about power, habits and patterns. How do you build it? The good news is psychological safety can be developed if you're intentional about it. There are six research backed ways to start, and it starts with you modelling vulnerability.

People won't admit mistakes unless you do. They won't say, I don't know unless they've heard you say it first. When leaders model vulnerability by asking for input, admitting uncertainty, or reflecting on their own mistakes, they send a powerful message. It's safe to be human here.

We need to constantly look at what went wrong rather than who went wrong. It's a process issue or maybe a learning opportunity, not a problem, or a person to be fixed.

Also, reward speaking up. If someone raises a concern, shares an idea, or flags a potential risk, even if it's awkward, thank them for it. Celebrate it and respond constructively. What you reward gets repeated. Even if the idea isn't perfect or the concern turns out to be nothing. Treat it like a contribution, not a complaint.

And then invite opinions and actually listen. Make space for people to share, especially those who aren't naturally vocal. Ask open questions. What's your take on this? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Go around the room before you speak. Don't walk into the room saying, here's the thing, give people an opportunity to say what they think anonymously and follow up on ideas when they are shared. Inclusion isn't about everyone having a voice all at once. It's about everyone having the chance to speak and knowing they'll be heard.

Then how you react when things go wrong is the ultimate test. You need to respond constructively to bad news. I once had an American boss who said, I want good news fast, but I want bad news even faster. He invited it in. If someone brings you a problem and your first instinct is to panic or blame, that's what they'll remember next time.

So instead, pause. Thank them for bringing it to your attention. Ask curious questions. Help them fix it. Coach them to their solution. And don't punish honesty. Psychological safety thrives when leaders are consistent and calm, especially under pressure.

Consistency and fairness is another element that's really important when building psychological safety because people feel safe when they know what to expect from you, from the system and from each other. So that means following through on what you say you'll do, avoiding favouritism and explaining your decisions.

So you don't have to explain every single thing in lots of detail, but just give people an idea of the thought process rather than just announcing the decision and set clear expectations. It's not glamorous, but it is powerful. Consistency builds trust, and without it, everything else feels a bit risky.

And make a point of encouraging curiosity, not perfection. If your culture values answers more than questions, people will tend to play it safe. So make curiosity normal. Say things like, I don't know, let's find out, or, hey, that's a good question, or what haven't we considered? This creates a learning culture where psychological safety fuels innovation, not just compliance.

Now, do you know whether your team feels psychologically safe or not? You can't see it, but you can feel it, but it helps to look for some signs. So here's a few ways to gauge whether or not you've got psychological safety in your team. Pulse surveys ask, I feel safe to speak up without negative consequences.

Give me a score on one to 10, whether you feel that's true or not. One-to-ones ask, what are we not talking about as a team? Or what's getting in your way? And then in meetings, just to make a point of observing who speaks up, who stays silent, who interrupts whom, and feedback loops. Are you getting honest feedback or is it just polite silence?

Are people asking questions, sharing ideas, owning mistakes? Have a think about that. Reflect on it. Maybe give it a score and monitor it over time. Silence isn't always golden. Sometimes it's fear, not agreement. I thought you might like some real world examples. I mentioned Google's project Aristotle earlier. They found that psychological safety was a top predictor of team success. It wasn't perks IQ or technical skill. It was where the people felt safe to speak up. Then there's the Edmondson study of hospital teams.

Amy Edmondson studied hospital teams and found something counterintuitive. the highest performing teams actually reported more errors. Why? Because they felt safe to speak up. Other teams made errors too. They just didn't report them.

Then there's Boeing. On the flip side, the Boeing crashes. Were later linked to a lack of psychological safety. Engineers, reportedly raised concerns about the flight control system, but felt ignored or dismissed, and the cost of silence was catastrophic.

What can you do in your team to build psychological safety? Here's what I suggest. Firstly, reflect on your own responses. When someone brings you bad news or challenges your idea, how do you react? Do you shut it down or do you welcome it with questions? Ask your team.

What's something we're not talking about that we should be? What's one thing I could do to make it easier to speak up here? Run that short pulse survey that I mentioned, maybe just three or four questions and share the results transparently. That's really important. Make a note this week to thank someone for raising a risk, asking a hard question, or admitting a mistake.

Choose one meeting and go last. Hear from everyone else before you speak. See what changes. Psychological safety isn't a soft skill. It's a leadership skill. when people feel safe, they speak up. They challenge group, think they take responsibility, and they stay.

When they don't feel safe, they protect themselves. Stay quiet, go elsewhere. As a leader, you can't force trust, but you can create the conditions for it. That's part of the job. So start small. Say, I don't know. Ask the hard questions and notice who isn't speaking because they're telling you something too.

That's all for today's episode of How to Lead. Until next time, don't forget the best way to avoid being like Linda, the bad manager, is to lead with clarity, care, and curiosity. If you've enjoyed this episode, do follow for more leadership insights. And if you'd like my personal support, please take a look at my website, waterfall hill.co.uk.

You can find more information about my one-to-one group coaching and team coaching programs. There's never been a better time to take your professional development or that of your team seriously than right now. I'd be delighted if you could like leave a review and share with your fellow leaders to help spread the word.

The best leaders are clear on the vision, care about their people, and approach interactions with curiosity, not judgment. Until next time, thanks for listening.