The Intermediary – August 2025 - Flipbook - Page 75
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
Leadership error?
Don’t just blame
Coldplay
A
s a psychologist,
you’d expect me to
be concerned with
human wellbeing –
and I certainly am
– but as a leadership
psychologist I also care about talent
management, business success and the
boom line. Crudely put – you waste
a lot of time and money if you don’t
create a psychologically safe work
environment.
So, what is psychological safety?
It’s a shared belief that it is safe to
take interpersonal risks at work –
expressing yourself, asking questions,
sharing ideas and admiing mistakes
without fear of repercussions. You are
not overlooked in favour of a chosen
few, you collaborate and value each
other’s contributions, and you believe
you can be your authentic self and
contribute fully to the organisation
and your team’s goals.
Take a moment and check your own
career history. Do you feel you have
psychological safety right now? In
how many of your roles have you felt
this clarity and confidence? When has
it been lacking? Do the people in your
team or your direct reports have the
same confidence in their treatment? If
not, then what is interfering?
Just this week I have heard stories
about people being overlooked in
meetings, their contribution ignored
or ridiculed as ‘not how we do it round
here’, or even just discounted out of
hand. If treated like this numerous
times, employees just stop trying and
disengage. Psychologists call it ‘learned
helplessness’. Brilliant ideas or
opportunities are lost to the business,
and the costs are incalculable.
A lot of companies consider
engagement, running surveys and
everything. Many then shake their
heads at how awful the stats look, but
AVERIL LEIMON
is co-founder
of White Water Group
do nothing. Imagine geing even a few
percentage points more engagement
across the board. How would
performance and outputs be affected?
How much beer and more fulfilled
would people be?
Where culture comes in
Although there is oen a lot of talk
about the importance of culture, I
rarely see people working hard to
transform it for the beer.
The benefits of a culture that focuses
on psychological safety for all include:
far higher employee engagement;
more innovation, adaptability and
agility; unlocked talent; an inclusive
and diverse workforce; dynamic
teams; long-term growth; and loyalty
and reduced turnover.
For the individual it eases productive
two-way feedback, makes them part of
a team, promotes higher performance,
reduces conflict and presents
opportunities for development.
Good psychological safety is not
about everyone playing nice, avoiding
conflict at all costs. In fact, it oen
means more dissent, discomfort
and issues while trying to work
out people’s differences. But when
people are robust, resilient and well
supported, it leads to a beer eventual
outcome, rather than everyone
playing nice and acceding to more
pedestrian, predictable outcomes
What it requires:
Lead difference. Stop recruiting in
your likeness. Embrace difference to
achieve more diverse outcomes.
Address what employees need to
get the job done well. Ask them,
listen carefully, withhold judgment
and enlist them to help make the
changes, as well.
Open communication. No
unnecessary secrets, no politics,
playing games, or having favourites.
Build trust as a sacred concept.
Work out what encourages it
and what breaks it. If you make
mistakes, talk about it, and ask for
help in overcoming issues.
Train leaders in a coaching style so
they shi from telling to asking,
consulting and empowering others.
Develop a growth mindset rather
than labelling people. Be honest
if they are underperforming or
demotivated, ask yourself what you
might have contributed to cause this
and put it right where possible
Make inclusivity a constant focus.
Those people who never speak out in
meetings? Discover why and go out
of your way to give them their place.
Give crystal clear expectations, not
just about targets, but the manner in
which they should be achieved.
Create a real team effort. No
grandstanding, find the positive in
everyone’s contribution, and find
ways of geing them to correct
their errors.
Encourage the capacity to reflect
on mistakes and grow. Do some
self-disclosure, admiing when
you messed up, explain how you
mean to put it right and ask for
contributions.
Don’t just blame Coldplay!
So, an enormous responsibility
falls on the shoulders of leaders at
every level. But then, that is the real
job, isn’t it? The problem is that few
leaders have actually had the best
development in how to lead, so it
becomes secondary to just making
sure things get done.
Don’t be an amateur. Professional
leadership takes time, reflection, and
comes from the inside out. I’d suggest
you get a coach to help with that! ●
August 2025 | The Intermediary
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