Building Psychological Safety From the Ground Up

[MadisonButler]

Psychological safety is not a one time seminar or workshop. It is an every day, every person practice. 

Psychological safety only works if the people inside the organization do the work. This work HAS to begin at the top of the organization. It is imperative that leaders understand the importance of Psych Safety, but also understand the implications of not having it, and what culture that has currently created in their organizations. Oftentimes, leaders struggle with this piece because self examination is much harder than the average work task. Self examination requires us to look at our own thought patterns, the patterns of our parents and relatives, and then how those patterns have caused harm. 

If we want to be able to introduce psychological safety in any organization, we have to be willing to address the elephant in the room- which is the harm that has already been caused, and continues to exist until addressed. It is important to note that harm cannot be swept under the rug, it has to be acknowledged, understood and removed from your organization. You cannot build a home without foundation, businesses are the same. 

Privilege and understanding it plays a large role in creating psychological safety, and it is not the job of marginalized communities to educate on the role of privilege in the workplace, but so often it falls on our shoulders. Understanding privilege and it’s outcomes is key in creating spaces that foster safety. If you cannot see your own privilege, how can you see others marginalization? So much of creating safe spaces is for conversations such as these, we must be able to discuss our lived experiences out loud without fear of retribution. 

Companies often start this journey too late, rather than from day 1. If you are starting an organization, even without funding, you can be intentional from day 1. Often, in the startup game people hire their friends and family to run the business- nepotism will never lead to inclusive outcomes. We should be thinking about how we build an inclusive and diverse organization from the day we decide to build. Write policies, values and job descriptions that center inclusion and safety in your organization.

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