Earlier this year, I attended a conference where Harvard prof Amy Edmondson spoke about psychological safety—a topic she's researched extensively for almost 30 years. 🧠

If you're working inside a corporate environment today, you've no doubt heard the term. It's become a misunderstood buzzword, which, I noticed, kinda ticks Edmondson off, and frankly, me too.

Here's an example.

I work with a handful of senior leaders and their teams inside a large global pharma company. Separately, several of them told me about a push by their regional exec (who, sadly, is not yet working with me 😇) to grow more psychological safety in their workplace.

But as my clients played it back to me, I could tell that exec had gotten it all wrong.

This not-so-well-informed exec was sending the message that "psychological safety" occurs when no team member is ever unhappy, uncomfortable, or underwater. And so, he implored his leaders, à la Tim Gunn, to "make it work."

That's just not right.

To be honest, it's just not possible.

Psychological safety doesn't mean that nobody feels uncomfortable.

It doesn't mean lowering standards or compromising too quickly when people disagree.

It doesn't mean there's no consequence to bad behavior (ie., "it's 'safe' to say/do anything").

It IS about creating an environment where people can speak their truth, hear others fairly, and have open, honest conversations about differences and decisions.

That kind of dialogue is clearly uncomfortable. It seems a heck of a lot easier in the moment to smother our challenging thoughts and disagreements (and btw, the emotional labor of that effort is burning us out. 🔥)

Now, here's the real kicker. 🦵🏼🦵🏼🦵🏼

We get to choose to feel safe (or safe-er than we do).

Our big, beautiful brain HATES this idea. Tough beans, baby brain.

Truth is, we have the power to control what we do, what we say, and what we think (yup, even that).

• We can choose that the dumb comment in the meeting wasn't about us (and truth is, it rarely is).
• We can choose to go back and ask our leader to clarify what they really meant, even at the risk of annoying them.
• We can choose to ask the bigger, more challenging question, because heck, isn't that what we're at work for, anyway?

So how about you, Reader? Where are you seeing psychological safety in your workplace? And if you're leading, what's working to try and build it around you? I always love hearing from you--just hit REPLY now and write me a note (it's always me on the other end).

In a world full of noise about what's not safe (hello, lettuce!), it's good for us to recognize what's in our control to make safe--without burying our heads under our pillows all day. Somebody out there needs you to take a step, to speak up, speak out. Why not go first? Thanks for being here.

Always, Darcy

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P.S. Had a great time talking to Trevor Blondeel on the Manufacturing Greatness podcast recently. We talked about employee retention and how managers and leaders can have better, more productive conversations. Trevor also wrote a detailed review of my book, "Red Cape Rescue: Save Your Career Without Leaving Your Job." I'm always grateful when someone reads, reviews, and shares the book--it's more relevant now than ever! Get yours and leave your review on the 'Zon here. Thanks! --D