As a leader, you’re likely no stranger to the concept of psychological safety. It’s on every HR department’s checklist, and for good reason—it’s crucial for fostering trust, collaboration, and innovation within teams. But what happens when psychological safety is weaponized, and used in ways that hinder its intended purpose? This creates a leadership dilemma between fostering a supportive environment and maintaining accountability.
Leaders across sectors face a shared challenge: promoting psychological safety while addressing misuse. For example, a private sector CEO recently described damaging tension between their People and Culture executive pushing for more resources to train leaders in psychological safety, and the chief operating officer who called it, “an excuse to dodge performance discussions.”
Similarly, a public sector leader was pressured to act after a constructive debate amongst their executive team was labeled as “psychologically unsafe” by an employee who had been invited to present at the meeting. These instances highlight the complexity of managing psychological safety in the workplace.
One thing about the modern workplace is certain: Views on psychological safety vary widely, with some seeing it as a cure-all and others to suppress dissent or avoid discomfort. While this presents a leadership dilemma, there is a way to proactively navigate this complexity by reframing it as an opportunity to foster a unified team culture rather than succumbing to divisive conflict.
Define what it means
Begin by addressing the most fundamental of issues: the term itself. “Psychological safety” is misleadingly broad and often confused with “psychosocial safety,” which encompasses a much wider range of employee mental and emotional well-being concerns. According to Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson, psychological safety creates an environment where team members feel secure enough to take interpersonal risks. Simply put, it’s about feeling confident to share ideas, questions, concerns, and mistakes—an essential component of effective teamwork.
Here’s the essence: This is about team effectiveness, not just overall safety. Google’s Project Aristotle highlighted psychological safety as the special ingredient for high-performing teams. But what that research downplayed initially, as revealed in Edmondson’s work, is the nuanced interplay between psychological safety and collective accountability.
If your team is high in psychological safety but has little sense of accountability, there’s a risk of slipping into a comfort zone, stagnation, and unreliable outcomes. Conversely, if there is high accountability but no interpersonal safety, then fear, anxiety, and defensiveness will constrain participation and inevitably undermine performance.
Equip and empower
To foster a high-performing team, your task is to blend psychological safety with collective accountability, nurturing a culture of “accountable collaboration.” That means equipping and empowering every team member to understand their roles, share ideas, take risks, and pursue excellence in the style of a cohesive “one team culture.” You can do this with a three-step approach built around accountable collaboration, starting with trust.
Rethink trust
As much as you might hope that people on your team innately trust you and their colleagues, that is not what science and experience tell us. Reflect on leaders who earned your trust and built trusting teams—was it through position titles and a few nice words or genuine engagement?
Trust grows from constructive human interactions. You must embody trust through your vulnerability, respect, and openness. Make it your priority to foster a “people first, task close behind” environment where relationships are prioritized, dissent valued, opinions respected, and authenticity is the norm. When you put a premium on relationships and purpose, trust will become a tangible part of your team’s fabric.
Create accountability
Move beyond rhetoric to action. Don’t just describe expectations; coach your team to own their behaviors and outcomes. Promote collective accountability by facilitating conversations about purpose and vision, taking every opportunity to reinforce what accountability looks like in daily behaviors. Lead by example, through your ownership and empathy, particularly when you or others experience bad news or setbacks. These are coachable moments to build accountable collaboration.
Prioritize growth
Foster a culture where complexity and challenges are met by curiosity and optimism, instead of the anxiety and reactivity that characterizes so many workplaces. Encourage and coach your team to hold the tension of not knowing. Embed a discipline of reflection and debriefing. This will provide the same platform to learn and grow seen in the best teams in business, sports, performing arts, and the military.
Insights and feedback are the fuel for being better tomorrow than today. Your task is to create an environment of accountable collaboration where people seek, receive, and capitalize on those insights.
Take action
Psychological safety isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the cornerstone of high-performing teams. Yet, its misuse threatens to undermine its essence. As a leader, you face a critical choice: Allow it to be weaponized or seize the opportunity to transform your team culture.
Start by being crystal clear about what psychological safety does and does not mean. Redefine trust and take it to a new level built on relationships first. Be the leader who creates clear expectations for individual and collective accountability. And don’t stop there. Embrace insights for growth as non-negotiable and a trademark of your team.
Pave the way for a team culture grounded in trust, accountability, and growth. That’s how to turn psychological safety from a misguided weapon to a powerful tool.
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