Psychological Safety: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and How to Foster It
When leading transformational change, few concepts are as vital to team success as psychological safety. Coined and developed by Harvard’s Amy Edmondson, psychological safety is not just a buzzword—it’s a prerequisite for high-performing teams. It allows individuals to bring their full selves to the table, contributing ideas, voicing concerns, and engaging in healthy debates without fear of embarrassment or reprisal.
But here’s the thing: creating psychological safety is not just the leader’s responsibility.
“Every team member must take personal responsibility for their outcomes and for fostering the kind of culture where psychological safety thrives. Leaders can set the stage, but it’s up to the team to bring it to life.”
What Psychological Safety Is
At its core, psychological safety is about creating an environment where team members feel safe to take interpersonal risks. It’s the foundation for fostering trust, innovation, and responsibility. When people feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to:
Speak up with questions, concerns, or ideas.
Admit mistakes and view failures as opportunities for growth.
Collaborate openly, leveraging diverse perspectives without defensiveness.
Take initiative in solving problems or pursuing opportunities.
Edmondson emphasizes that psychological safety is not about coddling or removing responsibility—it’s about ensuring the team feels secure enough to perform at its peak, even in high-stakes environments. And that security begins when each individual commits to making it a reality.
What Psychological Safety Isn’t
Understanding what psychological safety isn’t is just as critical.
Let’s bust a few myths:
It’s Not “Being Nice”
Psychological safety doesn’t mean avoiding difficult conversations. In fact, challenging discussions are essential for growth and innovation. The key is to approach them with respect and a shared commitment to team goals.
It’s Not a Free Pass
Psychological safety isn’t about letting team members off the hook for poor performance. Responsibility and psychological safety go hand in hand. Leaders must set team members up to follow through on their commitments by fostering alignment and clarity. At the same time, every team member must take ownership of their outcomes and their role in contributing to the team’s success.
It’s Not About Agreement
A psychologically safe team doesn’t always agree. Instead, it embraces healthy conflict, using disagreements as a springboard for better decision-making.
It’s Not a Luxury
Some leaders believe psychological safety is “nice to have” but non-essential. In reality, it’s a foundational requirement for team cohesion, creativity, and adaptability. But achieving it requires the active participation of everyone—not just the leader.
How Transformational Leaders Foster Psychological Safety
“Creating psychological safety requires intentionality. It’s not a one-time effort—it’s an ongoing practice woven into every interaction, meeting, and decision. Leaders can model the way, but the entire team must share the commitment. ”
Here are actionable guidelines to integrate into your leadership approach:
Model Vulnerability
As a leader, admitting mistakes and asking for feedback sets the tone for your team. Vulnerability signals that it’s safe for others to do the same.
Encourage Open Dialogue
Create opportunities for team members to voice their opinions without fear of interruption or judgment. Use open-ended questions to invite input and challenge assumptions.
Normalize Failure as Learning
When mistakes happen—and they will—frame them as learning opportunities. Debrief openly with your team, focusing on solutions rather than blame. Encourage team members to take responsibility for identifying what they’ve learned and how they’ll apply it.
Celebrate Courageous Acts
Recognize and reward behaviors that demonstrate courage, whether it’s a team member raising a concern or proposing a bold idea. Reinforce that everyone’s contributions are vital to maintaining psychological safety.
Set Clear Expectations
Ambiguity breeds anxiety. Be clear about roles, responsibilities, and goals so team members feel secure in their contributions. Make it clear that clarity is a shared responsibility, not just the leader’s job. Team members should feel empowered to seek clarification when they need it.
Create Psychological Boundaries
Distinguish between critique of work and critique of people. Ensure feedback is constructive and focused on behaviors, not character.
Foster Alignment and Good Commitments
Psychological safety thrives when team members are set up for success with clear goals and alignment. A leader’s role is to help team members commit to outcomes they can realistically achieve, but team members must take responsibility for delivering on those commitments.
When Team Members Refuse to Rise
Psychological safety and responsibility go hand in hand. When a team member refuses to rise to the Learning Zone, it’s a challenge leaders can’t afford to ignore.
“But here’s the reality: the leader alone can’t solve the problem. Every member of the team must make the culture of psychological safety their personal responsibility.”
Don’t Let Empathy Become an Excuse
Understanding someone’s challenges doesn’t mean excusing their refusal to step up. Empathy is about meeting them where they are while encouraging them to rise. A great leader can say, “I hear you, and I believe in you enough to expect more.” A great teammate can say the same.
Clarity Builds Confidence
Ambiguity creates doubt and fear. Set crystal-clear expectations about what success looks like, why it matters, and what happens if it’s not met. Clarity is a gift—it removes uncertainty and gives people a clear path forward. Team members should also take responsibility for seeking clarity when expectations are unclear.
Protect the Culture, Always
One person’s resistance to growth can undermine the trust and responsibility you’ve built with the rest of the team. Letting it slide sends a dangerous message: that individual performance matters more than team success. Never let that happen. Protecting the culture is everyone’s responsibility.
Responsibility Unlocks Growth
Here’s what I’ve learned: People need to be set up for success to realize their own potential. When you avoid tough conversations, you deny them the chance to grow. By fostering alignment and supporting them in their commitments, you empower them to rise—or to find a better fit elsewhere.
Tough Decisions Are Leadership in Action
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a team member refuses to rise. When that happens, the kindest and most effective decision may be to help them transition out. It’s not about punishment—it’s about making the right decision for the team, the individual, and the mission. Leadership means making those calls when others won’t.
Psychological Safety in Practice
One of Edmondson’s key insights is that psychological safety enables teams to operate in the “Learning Zone,” where high psychological safety meets high responsibility. In this zone, teams are both supported and challenged, enabling them to tackle ambitious goals while continuously improving.
But this zone can’t be achieved by the leader alone. It requires every team member to take ownership of their outcomes and contribute to the culture of psychological safety. Leaders set the tone, but it’s the collective commitment that sustains it.
As transformational leaders, our role is to create environments where teams feel empowered to push boundaries, learn from setbacks, and achieve extraordinary outcomes. Psychological safety isn’t just a tool for today—it’s the foundation for long-term, sustainable success.
Let’s build teams that thrive by embracing psychological safety as both a mindset and a practice.
Ready to Put Psychological Safety Into Action?
If you’re serious about creating a high-performing team, psychological safety isn’t optional, it’s foundational. But understanding it conceptually isn’t enough. You’ve got to operationalize it. That’s where most leaders fail.
To help you get started, we’re giving you access to one of our most actionable tools: the Leadership Rules of Engagement.
This is the same playbook we use at 120VC to build trust, set expectations, and make ownership non-negotiable. It’s direct. It’s proven. And it works.
