Creating Psychological Safety at work

19 Oct

With Dr David Weiss

Where do coaching and psychological safety intersect? An insight-packed conversation with Dr. David Weiss on the We Are Human Leaders Podcast.

In this insightful episode, we delve into two components of leadership we hear a lot about right now: coaching as a leader, and psychological safety.

There’s a huge body of research to show how important psychological safety is to important aspects of work such as belonging, creativity and innovation.

As Dr. Weiss outlines, trust is an essential component of psychological safety. As he frames it, “When there's trust lacking in a leadership team, you can have 10 smart people around the room and no variability of thought. Why aren't we getting different opinions?”

In its fullest expression, psychological safety means we can challenge not just peers, but those in positions of authority. Dr Weiss says it aptly: “It’s the ability to challenge the voice of authority in a way that is conflict without contempt. It's not about the person, it's about the idea.”

Want to develop psychological safety in your team or organization? Learn the skills you need to build psychological safety by becoming a certified Human Leader. Register now to receive more information about the 2023 program!

For leaders who want to foster an environment of psychological safety, Dr Weiss underscores the importance of emotional intelligence, asking, “Do you have the emotional intelligence to be able to create an environment where people can contribute and challenge in a way that is conflict without contempt, rather than leveraging language in a way that makes another individual feel uncomfortable or trying to win an argument?”

Emotional intelligence also comes into play when it comes to the ad hoc coaching opportunities that form an essential aspect of modern leadership. As Dr Weiss puts it, “Outstanding leaders coach all the time. You know, it's not “gee I don't coach except for a formalized moment.” It becomes part of their leadership style of how they engage with employees on an ongoing basis.”

During the conversation, Dr Weiss also gives tangible, practical examples of how we can use his powerful model for coaching: the CLEAR technique.