Thanks, Recaps And Rolled Sleeves

Here we are! The other side of 2020. Despite the worrying pieces of news flying around adding to all the organisational dread we have left behind last month, we can't help but be excited, can we? This bit of positivity we start on can fuel us for quite a while so here's to hoping we all manage to capitalise on it best we can. 

A couple of -hopefully!- goodies from our side: Next week we’ll unveil a new feature we got in our software solution that I feel very strongly about, as I think it will make life easier for many team leaders so I’ll write an honest account of how come we’ve designed it and it may contain some ranting and moaning about the sad state of affairs around us when it comes to the quality and depth of human relations in the workplace but it will also give you ideas on how you can do some of the strategies on your own. 

Meanwhile, tomorrow it's first video time - be kind, I had that cold/flu/death plague that we all got before the holidays irrespective where we are on the globe- and it's the first time the awesome Ffion Jones is there to impart hard-earned wisdom. The first episode is about Impression Management which is why one of the ones we’ve selected today is about that topic all over again, so you refresh your memory and see more resources.

Speaking of today’s article - I know people rarely click on links anymore these days but if you read the title and it doesn’t ring a bell, -and it wouldn’t as these were written when my kind followers were in the hundreds not in the tens of thousands (very massively grateful BTW! between all of us we can move mountains!) please do go and read it because coming from a place of common language and crystal clarity is crucial to set us all on the right path.

With this being a cross between a product blog; an oped ranty space about VUCA and humans in organizations; an account of a start-up’s journey to change the world; and above all, a space for all of us to focus sharply on the only lever of productivity: psychological safety, your involvement, your voice, your thoughts and opinions are pure gold to us so please make us rich :)

Psychological Safety For Leaders - Practical Advice For The Management Team Lead a.k.a The CEO

“I believe the lack of Psychological Safety at the top is the root of all organizational evil we see in the vast majority of organisations. That impostor syndrome, risk aversion, fear, dread and stagnation are running rampant amongst C-suite and until we resolve that it’s not going to be sufficient that we work on Psychological Safety for developer teams or that we try to make real mentality and cultural changes in organizations.   […]As many of our clients asked us for it, here's some practical advice for the Superhero CEO clued in enough to have tested and found their management team is far from psychologically safe.”

Psychological Safety Is Not A "Nice-To-Have"

“The companies that are winning these days have, -despite what sensationalist reporting may have you believe-, immensely more engaged and happy employees that are productive and the key ingredient to that is that their teams have a fair amount of Psychological Safety.   […] As disruption rolls over all industries and the wheat is separated from the chaff by sheer consumer demand, many see their survival in question so this time it's urgent and this time they no longer have the excuse of lacking the tools to affect change.”  

The Silicon Valley Secret Sauce You Can Dip In: Psychological Safety And The Bottomline

“When I first heard of the “Psychological Safety” construct and had no clue what it meant, I immediately shuddered with the idea of yet another fluffy “for the good of the employee” concept offered by misguided unions. It’s none of that. […] At Google, at Amazon and even at smaller but recognisable names such as Spotify and Airbnb and others I’m dying to tell you about but are not yet ready to share, there is a number on Psychological Safety. Not only a number on employee happiness, although that exists too, but a specific measurement and bottom-line correlation to Psychological Safety.”  

Psychological Safety and Emotional Intelligence

“We've reached an important milestone in our quest for achieving Psychological Safety for the good of the business - we've decided to call our solution's functionality that looks at how well a team leader performs in understanding their team's well being and improving it, - "Emotional Intelligence Trainer". This is why. […] It's rare that anyone is in a role that was exclusively managerial to begin with, and if they are, they are likely poorly equipped to empathise due to the lack of practical experience.  We assume everyone has the skillset to be a good leader and take care of their teams. We assume wrong.”   

Psychological Safety And Impression Management

“The energy spent on managing impressions in this day and age extends outside of the work context into our everyday social lives thanks to how social media has exacerbated our need to be favourably seen while offering us increasingly more ways to show ourselves. What about in the workplace? […]  We eternally work hard not to give off the impression that we are either Incompetent, Ignorant, Negative or Intrusive. That’s a sure-fire way to kill Psychological Safety in the team.” 

Have a fun, courageous and shockingly productive week in a team where you feel safe!