Hi leaders,
Welcome back to the leadership challenge. You explore your mindset, confidence, and career direction. Hop in if you haven’t done so yet.
For nine weeks, you receive a small task to work on.
You get a new task every Sunday until the 31st of March. (☛head to the previous tasks.)
Today’s task is about psychological safety. It is a shared belief or culture of a team. Members feel it is okay to speak up and express their ideas or concerns, and they will be listened to. Also, there is no mistake shaming. On the flip side, members are encouraged to take risks.
When you feel something is off in your team, it could be because of the lack of trust. Simply, members don’t feel comfortable and safe to be themselves and communicate.
Notice if, for instance:
People don’t talk during team meetings. No one asks questions.
People blame others for mistakes. The team avoids accountability.
There is gossip and complaining about each other.
You are not going to fix it quickly, but you can start thinking about it:
Do you work in a dysfunctional team? Make yourself familiar with the concept of psychological safety and see what YOU can do in your particular situation.
Watch these three videos as a start:
The importance of psychological safety | Amy Edmondson
Building a psychologically safe workplace | Amy Edmondson
How to turn a group of strangers into a team | Amy Edmondson
Write down key points
Think about how you can help build a psychologically safe environment at work.
What can YOU do?
You will be surprised how smooth it can be if you communicate generously and with the intention to make others comfortable. A safe environment is a productive environment.
Join the Discord community for questions and get additional resources. On Wednesday, I will drop a few more resources in the challenge thread.
Thursday Newsletter: Co-leadership - how to buddy up and lead
Sunday Challenge #6: Productive disagreement