Skydivers in Formation
People play safe when they feel unsafe to do otherwise.
NASA Challenger disaster. BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Volkswagen emissions scandal.
What went wrong?
Investigations produced multi-layered findings. Yet beneath the complexity lay a common element.
Fear. People were afraid to speak the truth.
And so, they didn’t.
Concerns weren’t shared, mistruths were rewarded, and valuable information was filtered down as it moved up the chain.
I regularly speak to leaders who share the importance of developing talent, building strong teams, and fostering great cultures. And yet time and time again, people in their organizations say they regularly hold back from speaking candidly for fear of what might happen if they do.
The presence of fear in organizations exacts a tax that is rarely immediately obvious. Of course, people don’t always die, and companies don’t always go bankrupt or fork out billions in settlements. More often, the cost of fear at play in workplaces is a slow leaking drip of value lost, creativity stymied and potential squandered.
People stop taking initiative, asking questions, sharing ideas, and confiding mistakes. Decisions are delayed, plans are polished….and polished some more. Innovation slows. Silo walls thicken. Problems aren’t voiced.
People play it safe unless they feel safe to do otherwise.
The biggest problems in organizations can usually be traced back to the conversations that did not occur because people didn’t feel safe enough to have them. When leaders don’t make people feel safe to risk their vulnerability and speak truthfully, they put the whole organization at risk. As Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, shared on the Live Brave podcast “Unsafe cultures endanger everyone.”
It’s why psychological safety – a term Edmondson popularized and defines as ‘permission for candor’ and taking interpersonal risks – has been found to be the strongest determinant of high-performing teams.
Of course, leaders play a pivotal role in building psychological safety and fostering what I call ‘cultures of courage’. Every leader is, as my colleague Sarah Jenson Clayton says, a ‘chief culture architect.’ The more power they hold, the more impact they wield. For better or worse.
If leaders aren’t proactively de-risking acts of vulnerability (like pointing out problems), they are inadvertently encouraging counter-productive behaviors that stymie growth and hold potential dormant- in individuals, teams and organizations.
Emotions drive behavior, not logic.
Telling employees to ‘be brave’ and ‘speak up’ only stokes cynicism if it’s not accompanied by consistent evidence those behaviors will be rewarded and an absence of any reason to doubt otherwise.
If people have any reason to hesitate before speaking, it reinforces fear driven ‘play-it-safe’ norms. After all, no one ever got fired for saying what their boss wanted to hear. At least not in the short term, which is where our focus naturally gravitates. As Edmondson says “The cognitive calculus errs toward caution.”
While leaders have the biggest role in bending the cultural norms toward courage, every person, regardless of role, can play a role to make others feel more comfortable in engaging in the conversations that matter most (this includes you.) Because just as fear is contagious, so too is courage. Here are a few ways to help you do just that.
Trade cleverness for curiosity
When Satya Nadella took the reins of Microsoft he saw a need to shift from a culture of experts to a culture of curiosity and went about instilling a growth mindset across the company. He encouraged employees to shift from being ‘know-it-alls’ to ‘learn-it-alls’ and role-modeled it himself.
Let’s face it, none of us know what we’re wrong about. As Daniel Kahneman noted, most people have “excessive confidence in what we believe we know” coupled with an “inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance.”
So make a habit of asking questions before espousing your opinion. Get comfortable practicing a deliberate ‘I don’t know.’ Most of all, listen with an openness to change your mind.
Destigmatize miss-steps (starting with sharing your own)
Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder, always started his weekly management meetings by sharing something he had not succeeded at in the previous week. By openly sharing his failings, he made it safer for others to try new things and scale the learning across the company by freely sharing it.
If you’re a committed learner, you will inevitably make the odd ‘miss-step’ as you fumble up the learning curve. When you do, don’t keep it to yourself. Not only does sharing your learning enlighten others, but you ameliorate the shame associated with imperfect outcomes.
Call on quieter voices so all perspectives feel included
Our brains are wired to extend more credibility to the opinion of authority figures. So, if you are in any sort of leadership role, chances are that some trusting folks will fail to think critically about what comes out of your mouth. While flattering to the ego, it creates vulnerability because, to quote General Patton: “If everyone is thinking alike, somebody isn’t thinking.”
Make a point to actively invite the less vocal to challenge your thinking. ‘
Encourage ‘loyal dissent’
Beyond fostering inclusion is de-risking dissension.
Research shows that the best decisions are made when high intellectual friction is coupled with low social friction. The leader’s job is to galvanize people behind a common purpose and then, encourage people to challenge the established thinking about how to bring that purpose to life. Ask people, ‘What might I be missing here?’.
Sometimes asking for just ‘one thing’ that might improve outcomes can reduce apprehension and yield more input… after all, you just want ‘one thing.’ For instance, ‘What is one way we could improve this process/strategy/product…?’
Respond well to ugly truths and ‘dumb’ questions
The culture at Volkswagen celebrated bold ambition but penalized not meeting targets. As VW engineers realized they couldn’t meet cost, efficiency, and emissions goals, they felt too afraid to report it. So they lied. Fear of truth-telling drives ugly truths underground. But they never stay there.
Sometimes in our eagerness to reward results, we can encourage behaviors we don’t want and discourage those that we do.
You may not like what you hear, but never make anyone regret shooting straight with you. Responding positively can make a crucial difference for a long time to come. For instance, ‘I really appreciate you bringing this to me so quickly. I’m sure it’s no fun sharing it, but I’m grateful you have.’
People need to believe the pay-offs outweigh the pitfalls
Likewise, if you’re asked a ‘silly question’, don’t make the asker feel stupid (note: self-restraint may be required.) Doing so risks shutting down very smart questions down the road. People need to believe the payoff for being brave is worth the pitfall.
Research finds that the time span between someone identifying a problem and raising it is a strong indicator of top-performing teams. Psychological safety determines that time gap.
Lead from the inside out
Until a leader is secure in themselves, fear will be their chief counsel and they’ll fall short on making others feel secure around them. Examples of such leaders abound. Yet working with people across all levels has taught me that the only thing required to build leadership influence is having the courage to act as one – regardless of title.
Dr Margie Warrell: The Virtuous Cycle of Courage and Psychological Safety
Courage and psychological safety form a virtuous cycle. To quote Edmondson, they are “two sides of the same coin.” So whatever your position, take it upon yourself to make others feel comfortable in being brave around you.
In every sphere, we need leaders with the the courage to lay their vulnerability on the line for the sake of a nobler cause. Regardless of your title, you can choose to step up and be one of those leaders – showing up with the courage and humble curiosity you’d like to see more of in others, particularly those with the highest positions of power.
You could argue that it’s not your job to lead change. That it’s too risky and not worth it. Yet every time you rise above the inclination to play it safe and actively choose to step up to the plate, you not only empower yourself, you embolden others… and courage spreads, mitigating risks, expanding possibilities and improving outcomes.
That’s what I call real leadership.
Dr Margie Warrell is a global expert in courageous leadership. As Senior Partner in leadership advisory at Korn Ferry, she helps organizations transform into ‘cultures of courage’ that unlock talent and accelerate transformational change. Listen to her interview with Amy Edmondson here.
