Psychological safety is absolutely critical for building high-performing teams as well as strong and effective relationships with stakeholders.Â
However, when we spend so much time focusing on psychological safety, it’s important to remember one thing: it’s not the end goal. Rather, it supports you in achieving your goals and objectives (while also ensuring the team is thriving, of course).
The end goal may be a particular outcome or performance objective, such as a particular KPI that needs to be met.
On the other hand, psychological safety is the foundation that lifts up through inclusion and diversity, and creates that high performance standard.Â
It can open the door for productive discussions where everyone is contributing, and you can get some real honesty. It fosters an inclusion mindset, and creates a positive environment where everyone believes that their work truly matters.
Ultimately, psychological safety allows for inclusion, which creates diversity, and this in turn facilitates performance.Â
It’s important to perform as a team, and for that collaboration is essential, which doesn’t happen if people don’t feel psychologically safe and don’t have a sense of belonging.
