5 Behaviors That Foster Learner Safety

To create incubators of innovation where divergent thinking, creative abrasion and constructive dissent thrive, we must learn not only to tolerate, but actually invite and welcome constructive feedback. This may feel like an unnatural act at first, but it’s a skill you can develop. Here’s how:

Challenger safety satisfies the basic human need to make things better. It’s the support and confidence we need to ask questions such as, “Why do we do it this way?” “What if we tried this?” or “May I suggest a better way?”

There’s some truth to the adage: out of sight, out of mind. If you’re a remote worker you may be wondering if this applies to you. Does the adage hold weight on our virtual teams? Are we left to the mercy of cloud-based collaboration tools to remind our employers of our existence? If we’re only “in sight” when we’re on-screen, can we still have an impact on our organizations?

Contributor safety satisfies the basic human need for autonomy and contribution. You feel safe and are given the opportunity and role clarity to use your skills and abilities to make a difference. Here are five behaviors that will help you foster contributor safety on your team.

Learner Safety satisfies the basic human need to learn and grow. When we sense learner safety, we’re more willing to be vulnerable, take risks, and develop resilience in the learning process. Here are five behaviors that will help you foster an environment of learner safety.

To assess your personal impact on the psychological safety of your team, ask yourself the following seven questions. Then, find a trusted advisor who can tell you the truth and reveal any blindspots related to these questions. Once you find your weak points, work to improve these areas.

Consider this: We include naturally in childhood and exclude unnaturally in adulthood. Why? Exclusionary behavior is learned behavior, the result of bias (conscious or unconscious) acquired through socialization. How, then, do you root out exclusionary bias, behavior, and policy?

Innovation is a team sport: it comes easier and faster when you work together. If you're going to create solutions to difficult problems or find new ways to exploit opportunities you'll need innovation and iteration and implementation. Here are the five steps to innovating with your team.

Success is prone to dismiss feedback and alternative points of view. You stop listening, you start distorting, you begin to suffer the effects of isolation. Fortunately, you can resist the bear trap of success and the distortion it brings. Start by asking yourself 10 questions.

What’s behind your resume? In many ways, you left out the best parts–the crucible experiences that taught you the most. So let’s finish the job by writing your resume of failure, dripping with blood, sweat, and tears, and revealing the reality of your gritty life. Keep reading to learn how.

Leadership and management are related and yet distinct disciplines. Every leader needs management skills and every manager needs leadership skills. But the leadership-to-management ratio varies by position. What's yours? Check out these 23 dimensional differences between the two.

In our research, we discovered a crucial distinction: Some employees worked with actively toxic leaders who, themselves, engaged in toxic behaviors, while others worked with passively complicit leaders who allowed others to be toxic without consequence. Is this you? Here’s what to do next:

Inclusion safety satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong. It allows us to interact without fear of rejection, embarrassment, or punishment. It boosts confidence, resilience, and independence. Here are five ways to foster inclusion safety and acceptance in any social setting.

As the central measure of cultural health, psychological safety is exploding as an organizational priority. Various definitions of psychological safety exist, each slightly different. Here are seven dangerous misconceptions about it that you should avoid as you learn about this hot topic:

How do you overcome unconscious bias? Kindness is the answer. When you commit to be kind, you approach every human interaction with that commitment foremost in mind. Then, when an unconscious bias suddenly appears, it collides with your commitment to be kind, creating dissonance within you.

Hiring an employee is a high risk/high reward proposition. Hiring the right person can bring unimaginable benefits. Needless to say, emotion, urgency, and unconscious bias can hijack the process and lead to a regrettable hire. Here are three dangerous hiring mistakes and how to avoid them.

If your interviewers work in a toxic culture, they will try to hide it through surface acting. Mild and subtle indicators will reveal their efforts to conceal. Your job is to gather the clues and get to the truth. Here are nine questions to help you spot a toxic culture in a job interview:

When it comes to understanding leadership, we've created a myth-making industry, a platitudinous art, an intellectual toy. We've made it too complicated, and in many cases, the theories we've hatched are dangerously misleading. Consider the following 10 flawed theories.

In terms of team performance, the homogenization of thought is the enemy. If the team is offering a pre-packaged agreement before it begins analysis and discussion, that’s normally a sign that the team has been intellectually muzzled. To avoid this costly trap, do the following.

Silence is a normal response to being humiliated or punished; teams disengage when they have no voice. How do you reboot a silent team? You create an environment of rewarded vulnerability (psychological safety). Here are seven specific suggestions to re-invite team members to participate.

The way that we see someone affects the way we value them. Connecting with someone like you is easy, it feels natural. We call this homophily, meaning that we bond with people with whom we share common characteristics. But how do we connect with someone who is very different from you?

Employee engagement and retention is directly linked to the level of psychological safety they feel in each of the 4 stages. In conducting a stay interview, ask each of the following two-part questions, then listen intently. Use this information to inform future company culture changes.

Social cues can look different when we meet virtually. Are cameras on? Turning on your camera is the first act of vulnerability in a virtual meeting. Going off camera may indicate anxiety, fear, or low social energy. Here are 11 other ways to assess psychological safety in virtual meetings.

Psychological safety is an environment of rewarded vulnerability. As we emerge from the pandemic, the demand for psychological safety increases. Interest in the concept is giving way to demand for the condition. Employees now see psychological safety as a term of employment, not a perk.

When money becomes your sole focus, you may find that your aspirations get sucked into a vortex of acquisition, consumption, and presentation. This modern version of indentured servitude is quite powerful. Working for meaning, on the other hand, allows for deeper joys and fulfillment.

Fish have water. Humans have culture. You can’t step out of culture and dry yourself off with a towel, you’re always in it. Culture includes values, assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, customs, mores, and artifacts. All of those things surface in the way we interact together.

Introverts need time to absorb and reflect on questions, problems, and information. They like to crystallize their thinking before making it public. They’ll become emotionally fatigued before they become intellectually fatigued. Here are five ways to support them in your next meeting: