Want a better job faster? DM Me! • Ex-Google, Ex-Meta, Ex-AmEx, Ex-Salesforce, Ex-VC • CEO & Founder @ Kadima Careers
I sucked as a manager. I know because Google told me so. My first Manager Feedback Score in May 2011 placed me in the bottom 25 percentile of managers. Then I learned about Psychological Safety. A concept that Amy Edmondson and the Google leadership team identified as the best indicator of team success. And I embraced those learnings. Fast forward 5 years later, I was awarded the Google Great Manager award. Mostly because of embracing and mandating psychological safety. These tips below by Nir Eyal will help any leader immediately make their team more psychologically safe. And with that safety, comes results. Don't underestimate the power of psychological safety. How has the absence or presence of psychological safety impacted your career?
Behavior and Habit Design | Bestselling Author of Hooked and Indistractable | Investor | Keynote Speaker | 1M+ Audience
Psychological safety is a workplace necessity. Here’s how to build it: Step 1: Frame the issue as a learning problem, not an execution problem. Step 2: Managers should acknowledge that no one, themselves included, is expected to have all the answers. Step 3: Managers should model curiosity and ask questions. Creating psychological safety in the workplace helps employees feel safe expressing their ideas, taking risks, and collaborating openly. It removes the fear of negative consequences that suppresses innovation. This culture of safety also leads to greater productivity and overall job satisfaction. By building psychological safety in the workplace, organizations can harness the full potential of their teams. ♻️If you agree with this post, repost it to help your network.
Great story - thank you for sharing it Alan Stein
Powerful story, Alan Stein. Growing as a manager can be SO challenging, because we all have blindspots and the work can feel so personal. But there's nothing more impactful to a work experience than having a good manager. Totally worth the effort!
Oftentimes a leader will need an executive coach to make the real change. Learning how to create a psychologically safe space for your team is not learned overnight.
You use an important term here - a CULTURE of safety. It sounds pretty straightforward and yet at the core of any culture are a set of beliefs and assumptions that will drive how people - leaders and employees - respond to failures and mistakes. In my experience, shifting those beliefs can be quite difficult, but critical for real culture change to occur. The research and subsequent awareness of the concept of Psychological Safety has been instrumental in helping shift the beliefs and assumptions many have regarding failure.
Safe work Australia has cemented it https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/mental-health/psychosocial-hazards
I find the word “execution” to be perfect for its dual meaning. In non-psychologically safe environments, speaking up or admitting failure can feel like you an execution. Modeling curiosity can help with framing the issue as a learning opportunity and not simply about getting the task done. Thank you for sharing
Step #2 is really key to Psychological safety! This makes such a refreshing change from the saying : "Don't bring me your problems, bring me the solutions", which creates a adversion to admitting to any problems. I prefer to brainstorm all options as a team - and come up with creative solutions to address the problem.
Managers should also model active listening and continuous empathy
Inspiring! Thanks for sharing your story. What a great example of our capacity to learn and grow as human beings!
Health Tech Innovation
1moI wonder how you "mandate" psychological safety. Training on Psychological safety actually can be quite dangerous when it is not met with real emphaty.