I have been thinking about this topic A LOT lately.

For anyone already wondering…what is psychological safety? It’s essentially the idea that you can make mistakes, express ideas or thoughts and take risks without fear of repercussion or punishments. Google tells me the term was coined by Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor, so I’m going to roll with that, but please don’t come for me if I’m wrong. It’s a term I’ve heard thrown around only in the last 5 years or so of my HR career.

How do we create a culture of psychological safety? or..

Do our employees feel psychological safety?

It’s generally brought up in the context of culture or engagement discussions – and sometimes performance management discussions.

To be 100% honest – I NEVER understood it! The definition is simple enough, but the reality of how it could exist in a corporate environment?…..(mmm ok). Just add it to the list of corporate jargon that I loathe.

Fast forward to the present – and I have had an epiphany of sorts.

In my corner of the social media landscape – the algorithm delivers me lots of great content about the workplace, employment, corporate news, leadership, and all sorts of “HR”/Business stuff ranging from serious, controversial, and humorous. I’ve noticed that many of the top contributors on Linkedin, or other social platforms, those sharing the most interesting, provocative, or even emotional posts or comments, are ..(Drumroll)…SELF EMPLOYED…or unemployed! They are coaches, authors, influencers, etc. Most notably, they are not tied to a corporate entity per say.

So why is this important? For years, I’ve been so envious of the personalities that could share their opinions and their stories so openly. I assumed it was their personalities that gave them their courage (and that’s probably part of it). Their perspective goes viral because it invokes a shared emotion from so many of us who are “in the trenches”. I secretly wished I could be that open and bold. I submitted to the idea that I was just too “shy” or too “insecure” to really publish my ideas like that. Recently it hit me…it’s not just their personalities – it’s freaking psychological safety!

Recently it hit me…it’s not just their personalities – it’s freaking psychological safety!

Let’s back up a bit to move forward.

I’ve been in a corporate space for 15 years, largely in an HR capacity. My roles generally required me to be an ambassador or voice of whatever organization I was working in. In fact – most companies assume all employees should shoulder that same mentality no matter their role. I have avoided a lot of social media endeavors and kept myself quite private for years because I was so scared of something getting back to an employer or my manager – and feeling humiliated or worse – punished. So I just avoided it. I wouldn’t even connect with colleagues on any social platform, other than LinkedIn – to keep work and life separate. And listen, maybe that’s how it should be? There are definitely other benefits to keeping a private life and keeping your opinions to yourself – no doubt. But in my case, I had things I wanted to share – advice, ideas, etc. – and I was paralyzed by my own fear of professional repercussions. To be fair, it was likely more self inflicted than company inflicted, but when you work in an office – for an employer- who immediately onboards you with a handbook of rules, a job description, goals, KPIs, and you want to be a good employee…you tend to realize there is a lane to follow and you probably shouldn’t step out of it too far…right? There is always a professional norm to be followed and everything else is a “bad look”. So how do you ever achieve psychological safety?

Back to the present…

After falling victim to one of the many 2023 layoffs, I found myself diving back into self employment and with that – slowly pursuing some of my creative passions….you might be reading one as we speak (shameless plug). But after many months I’ve noticed a slow shift in my behavior. I am not “scared” to be seen. I am not scared to be perceived (in whatever way someone wants to perceive me). More than ever, I am aspiring to be authentic and hold to my convictions. For the first time ever, that’s compelled me to share my thoughts and my ideas, my humor and my dislikes in a much more open way and it’s because I am nobody’s ambassador – or employee. This – is psychological safety. I finally get it. It’s the “IDGAF” of being true to yourself and sharing yourself with the world. I always thought it was simply a personality trait that you either had this or you didnt…I was SO WRONG!

The only thing that changed for me was my employment status. I gained the freedom to be myself because there was no other governing entity writing my paycheck.

Final thoughts & Disclaimer

I would be completely remiss if I didn’t call this out because while I’ve obtained this gift – I remain incredibly conscientious. With psychological Safety, comes personal responsibility. There are no guardrails or handbooks to keep you in check, so with this freedom, comes risk. I’ve seen a lot of of assholes out there in the public forums who CLEARLY have been issued their fair share of psychological safety if you catch my drift….I think this is where more progressive advocates of psychological safety would lose me. Feeling safe to share your thoughts, your beliefs is one thing, but “cancelling” others for sharing theirs or trolling comments with unproductive criticism, can’t be how we enable this moving forward. There has to be a level of self responsibility. But that’s for another article…

I really want to know what you think. Have you thought about how your professional life has limited your behaviors or silenced your thoughts? Do you think it’s POSSIBLE to have pure psychological safety in a traditional employment situation? Is it just a unicorn culture of expression and no rules or corporate norms that I’ve never seen? Let me hear from you!!!