And it is out of those spaces between us that the comparisons begin, the empathy flees, the fear and envy emerge, the conflicts arise, the antagonisms gestate, the destructive instincts and impulses for abuse and cruelty arise. Out of our divisions emerge our classes, ranks, and stations. Out of our differences emerge our divisions. Out of our attachments emerge our differences. As humans, we look for loyalties to attach to. It’s the adoration of power and distinction, insecurity, and ordinary selfishness that lead us to partition ourselves. “We are,” as the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said, “healed by relation, not isolation.”ĭrawing lines of exclusion is not rooted in our biology. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes said that there is “a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.” That lust for power, wealth, and aggrandizement runs counter to human flourishing because we’re connected, not self-contained. It will determine how you lead and influence others. It will define the way you draw people out or shut them down, create confidence or induce fear, encourage or discourage. In large measure, the way you answer these questions will define the way you value human beings and your relationships with them.
These four questions align with the four stages of psychological safety. Fourth, do you consistently invite others to challenge the status quo in order to make things better, and are you personally prepared to be wrong based on the humility and learning mindset you have developed?.Third, do you grant others maximum autonomy to contribute in their own way as they demonstrate their ability to deliver results?.Second, without bias or discrimination, do you encourage others to learn and grow, and do you support them in that process even when they lack confidence or make mistakes?.First, do you truly believe that all men and women are created equal, and do you accept others and welcome them into your society simply because they possess flesh and blood even if their values differ from your own?.And if you happen to lead a family, team, or organization, conduct institutional examination of conscience while you’re at it. This is a time to summon the courage to conduct a searching, fearless personal inventory. The presence of fear in an organization is the first sign of weak leadership Psychological safety is a condition in which you feel (1) included, (2) safe to learn, (3) safe to contribute, and (4) safe to challenge the status quo-all without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in some way. This pattern is consistent across all organizations and social units, that I have come to define as The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. And finally, they want to challenge the status quo when they believe things need to change. I’ve discovered that psychological safety follows a progression based on the natural sequence of human needs.įirst, human beings want to be included.
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If you can banish fear, install true performance-based accountability, and create a nurturing environment that allows people to be vulnerable as they learn and grow, they will perform beyond your expectations and theirs.įor the past twenty-five years, I’ve been a working cultural anthropologist and a student of psychological safety, learning from leaders and teams across every sector of society. The presence of fear in an organization is the first sign of weak leadership. It freezes initiative, ties up creativity, yields compliance instead of commitment, and represses what would otherwise be an explosion of innovation. The other thing you learn is that fear is the enemy.
One of the first things you learn about leadership is that the social and cultural context has a profound influence on the way people behave and that you as the leader are, straight up, responsible for that context.
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Nor can perks such as foosball tables, free lunch, an open office environment, and the aesthetic of a hip organization bring it to life.
Without skill, integrity, and respect for people, it doesn’t happen. It is perhaps the supreme test of a leader and a direct reflection of personal character. Most leaders don’t comprehend that managing these two categories of friction to create an ecosystem of brave collaboration is at the heart of leadership as an applied discipline. It requires creative abrasion and constructive dissent-processes that rely on high intellectual friction and low social friction. Yet, as the historian Robert Conquest once said, “What is easy to understand may have not been easy to think of.” Innovation is never easy to think of. Innovation is almost always a collaborative process and almost never a lightbulb moment of lone genius.
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