Contrary to what many leaders believe, they can’t make anyone feel safe.
The perception of safety is highly subjective and rooted in belief, feeling, and mindset.
What leaders CAN DO is to create the conditions where feelings of safety can emerge.
Safety is not proven by words.
It is proven by what happens when team members test the waters of the organization’s culture and leadership.
When people speak up, advocate for unpopular views, and take risks, they experience a reaction. They observe what occurs when others do. If nothing negative or punitive occurs, perceptions of safety will grow.
For leaders, it is important to understand that safety is rarely linear. Not every reaction or response will settle the record.
Because team members gauge their feelings of safety from the messages, decisions, and reactions they experience, they seldom believe they are perfectly safe to express their candid views and take the chance to try new things.
Instead, they view the consistency of how leaders react as their guide as to how safe they are right now.
Because safety is grounded in perception, leaders will naturally send messages and make decisions that create some skepticism and lower safety at times.
The realistic goal for leaders is not to eliminate all possible perceptions of mistrust or concern, but to create the stable conditions where safety can thrive.
Fundamentals are critical.
The idea of safety is positioned correctly when leaders set the expectation that raising risks, surfacing concerns, and challenging assumptions are core responsibilities for everyone and not optional “nice to haves.”
Good leaders admit they don’t have all the answers and ask people to speak up when they see an issue or something overlooked.
By frequently asking questions that display openness, leaders create a climate for safety: What are we missing? What risks must we account for? What are we not talking about that we really need to?
When possible, direct questions to the more reserved team members by name. Make sure meetings and discussions are not dominated by a few voices. Equalize airtime so everyone gets a chance to speak and be heard.
Outlaw eye-rolling, sarcastic comments, and other forms of ridicule in meetings. Leaders must confront those team members who make others feel less safe from speaking up.
Most importantly, good leaders react calmly and with curiosity to challenges, disagreements, and contrary opinions. They thank people for raising issues and speaking candidly.
In group settings, they focus on learning and what to do differently in the future rather than on who should be held accountable for poor outcomes.
If leaders want people to speak up and express their candid views, they must reduce the negative consequences others perceive might occur if they do so.
A team environment is only as safe as people believe it to be.
Through their consistent actions, good leaders create the conditions for openness and safety in every meeting and conversation.
