Psychological Safety at Work and in Life

It is chilling to think about how lack of psychological safety in our organizations affects people day after day. It would be impossible to gauge how much we have lost in human potential by not creating it in our homes and workplaces.

Work may be the most promising area to transform the human condition. We cannot choose our family of origin nor control how we are treated as children. Those of us who have escaped or did not become prisoners of fear in childhood can choose to create workplaces where people are treated with respect and freed from debilitating fear.

I am realizing that there is only one path to transforming one’s basic experience of life.

I am realizing that there is only one path to transforming one’s basic experience of life. At work it manifests as a sense of meaning and purpose in the work we do. Behind that is the nature of our relationships with people that we work with. How meaningful are they? How do they support us or add a sense of belonging to our life? Are they a source of stress or do they help us feel centered? Can we laugh with them, be ourselves and know that even in conflict there can be eventual resolution and acceptance? These things, unfortunately, are often difficult to attain at work or with family.

What can leaders do?

What can leaders do to free up brain capability currently engaged in self-protection? Stories abound of leaders who have achieved extraordinary results by simple actions they have encouraged such as calling people by name, scheduling regular conversations with direct reports where they feel supported and receive clarity on direction and priorities.

Maybe if we get more stories out there, managers and others in coordination positions will feel encouraged to walk around and talk to people. Stories are the most powerful communication and there are lots of stories about how leaders accomplish what appeared to be impossible with the simple actions of reaching out to employees and responding to their concerns/recommendations.

Fear of conversations becoming “personal agendas and whining.”

"I don't like to ask open questions about concerns because it turns into personal agendas or whining.” That attitude makes it impossible to create an environment where people will come to you with information to prevent failures. Whether we like it or not, if we want people to participate in accident prevention we have to go to the source, make it safe to talk about what isn’t working, listen and take corrective action.

Why is it so rare for a manager to understand or accept that having conversations and building relationships is necessary for organizational excellence? Is it lack of education or practical tools? Is it a conflict with personal experience? Is it the belief that there are easier or more practical approaches to improving performance? Are some managers fearful of social interaction with workers? Take for example the following story.

Success Story

“I've done scores of walkarounds/worker interactions with managers and it's absolutely true many seem intimidated (i.e., fearful) of their own people. Or, perhaps it's a fear of looking weak. Some managers are, of course, natural communicators and enjoy the interactions. I had a plant manager who liked to go to the plant on back shifts to interact with his people. He often asked me to go along and when we showed up at 2:00 am in the morning I felt we were treated almost like rock stars. The appreciation that the site's top manager cared about his people and what they were doing was palpable.” (HSE manager in nuclear for 30 years.)

Let's get more success stories out there. Can you share one?

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