What Is Psychological Safety, Really?
Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” But what does this mean in practice?
It’s not about being nice or lowering performance standards. Rather, it’s about creating an environment where people can be authentically themselves—where they can speak up, make mistakes, learn, and challenge without fear of embarrassment or punishment.
Importantly, psychological safety is a team characteristic, not a personality trait. It’s something we cultivate together through our interactions, not something individuals simply “have” or “don’t have.”
Why Psychological Safety Matters
Research consistently shows that psychological safety is the number one predictor of team performance. Google’s extensive “Project Aristotle” study found it to be more important than who is on a team or even how they’re structured.
Why is this the case? Because when we feel psychologically safe:
We speak up with ideas that might otherwise remain hidden
We acknowledge mistakes quickly, allowing for faster learning
We engage in productive conflict that leads to better decisions
We take appropriate risks that drive innovation
We collaborate authentically rather than performatively
Safety vs Trust: Understanding the Distinction
Many leaders assume that if their team members trust each other, psychological safety naturally follows. However, these concepts, while related, are distinct:
Trust focuses on believing in others’ competence and integrity—”I trust you to do good work and keep your word.”
Psychological safety concerns the environment created collectively—”We all feel safe to be vulnerable, make mistakes, and challenge ideas here.”
A team can have high trust but low psychological safety. Team members might respect each other’s abilities while still feeling unsafe to speak up or admit mistakes.
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
Timothy Clark’s research identifies four progressive stages teams move through as psychological safety increases:
Inclusion Safety: Feeling accepted as part of the team
Learner Safety: Feeling safe to learn, ask questions, and make mistakes
Contributor Safety: Feeling safe to contribute ideas and solutions
Challenger Safety: Feeling safe to challenge the status quo and suggest significant changes
Most teams achieve the first two levels but struggle with creating environments where members feel safe to contribute meaningfully and challenge effectively—precisely the behaviours that drive innovation and prevent costly mistakes.
Measuring Your Team’s Psychological Safety
How do you know if your team has psychological safety? Consider these questions:
How openly do we discuss and learn from mistakes?
How comfortable are we addressing difficult or sensitive issues?
How readily do we offer and ask for help?
How included do all team members feel, particularly those with diverse perspectives?
The answers reveal much about your team’s current state of psychological safety and which aspects may need attention.
Building Psychological Safety Through Relationships
At its core, psychological safety is about relationships. It emerges from how we interact, communicate, and connect with each other. Some practical approaches include:
Modelling vulnerability by acknowledging your own uncertainties and mistakes
Responding to contributions with curiosity rather than judgment
Actively including quieter voices in discussions
Normalising learning and framing “failures” as valuable data
Explicitly valuing diverse perspectives, particularly dissenting ones
The journey toward psychological safety is continuous rather than destination-oriented. It requires ongoing attention and intentional relationship-building rather than one-off initiatives.
From Understanding to Practice
Understanding psychological safety is the crucial first step. But how do we move from understanding to creating it in our teams? How do we overcome the barriers of hierarchy, time pressure, and ingrained habits that work against it?
This is where many teams get stuck—knowing the what and why, but struggling with the how. It start with you the team leader – you set the tone.
Leading by Example: The Team Leader’s Critical Role
As a team leader, your behaviour sets the tone for psychological safety more than any policy or statement ever could:
Model vulnerability: When you admit uncertainty, ask for help, or acknowledge mistakes, you signal these behaviours are valued, not punished. Try starting with phrases like “I’m not sure about…” or “I made a mistake when…”
Mind your reactions: Your response to ideas, especially challenging ones, determines whether team members will speak up again. Count to three before responding to contributions, particularly if your instinct is to disagree.
Actively invite participation: Directly ask for input from quieter team members, using their names and giving them time. “Emma, we haven’t heard your perspective yet. What are your thoughts on this approach?”
Demonstrate active listening: Show you’re processing what’s being shared by summarising what you’ve heard before responding: “So what I’m hearing is…”
Praise risk-taking publicly: When someone takes an interpersonal risk, acknowledge it positively: “Thank you for bringing up that concern—it’s important we consider different angles.”
Remember that team members watch what you do far more closely than what you say. Every interaction is an opportunity to reinforce or undermine psychological safety. The small moments—how you respond when someone challenges your idea or admits a mistake—often matter more than grand statements about team culture.
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