I still find there’s a lot of confusion about psychological safety. Two of the most common misperceptions is first, that people can say whatever they like however they like. Second, that we have to wrap people in cotton wool because that’s what psychological safety is, isn’t it? Just soft and fluffy?
The reality of psychological safety couldn’t be further from that. I describe it as being the thing that allows us to lean into gnarly high-stakes conversations and situations and our relationships remain intact. And they remain intact because we’ve laid the groundwork. More on that in season two episode one of Manage with Confidence, where I take you through some practical things that can help you create a psychologically safe team culture… as long as you’re prepared to put the effort in.
Hope you find it helpful.
I do a lot of work supporting people, like you, who lead teams. Often, this work focuses on the culture of the team, helping a manager develop a more psychologically safe and inclusive culture.
The four basics of culture
In it’s simplest form, culture is the personality of the team. There are all sorts of complex models and frameworks out there so let’s strip it back. If there were four things for you to pay attention to when it comes to your team’s culture it’s these:
- Your team’s values
- Your team’s artefacts
- Your team’s norms
- Your behaviour as the leader
These together help create the team’s culture or personality. Let’s dive into each of these, including giving you some questions to think about.
Your team’s values are the things that matter to the team. The guiding principles as it were. Some of these might be the same as your organisation’s corporate values. Some of them might be the same.
What are the guiding principles of your team?
The artefacts are the physical things that represent your team. For example, logos, uniforms, the colour of your team’s brand, the style of the team space (if you have one), even things like parking spaces – yes, that’s a very real one for some teams I’ve worked with!
What physical things say “this is my team”?
Your team’s norms. Norms are social niceties but the thing is, we don’t often think intentionally about them. They just take root because we copy other people. Think about the norm of holding a door open for the person behind you. That’s not written down in law or in a policy. You just do it. You’ve probably always done it. And others will do it because you do it. Well, team norms are like that. Some norms can be helpful for a positive team culture, some can hinder.
What norms do you notice in your team that are helpful? What norms hinder the performance and productivity of your team?
And then there’s you. You didn’t think I’d go a whole podcast episode without bringing it back to you, did you? My favourite mantra when it comes to working with managers is “It starts with you”. In fact, I have a postcard with that on it, that I include in welcome packs that I send to any leader I work with.
One of my favourite questions to pose to leaders is this:
“What part are you playing in the culture you DON’T want?”
This can be a powerful question to reflect on when it comes to psychological safety. If your team doesn’t feel particularly safe – and it’s for your team to say, not you – what part are you playing in that?
What is psychological safety?
Whenever I’m asked to summarise what psychologically safety is, I say it’s about being able to have hard and challenging conversations and the relationships stay intact. When we feel psychologically safe, we’re able to:
•Challenge others, regardless of hierarchy
•Give someone constructive negative feedback
•Put forward an unusual idea in a team meeting
•Go against the majority thinking
•Set boundaries
The benefits of psychological safety
A 2017 study led by Alexander Newman found five benefits of psychological safety are:
- Better communication, sharing of knowledge and levels of engagement
- Openness to learning, including learning from failure.
- Improved performance, with more creativity and innovation
- More positive employee attitudes, including more commitment to the organisation.
- Increased levels of initiative, such as identifying ways to work around processes that impact performance
The four stages of psychological safety
Timothy R Clark is an organisational anthropologist and author of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. I think his model is helpful for leaders who want to create genuinely psychologically safe team cultures.
© 2023 4 stages of psychological safety sketchnote by Hayley Lewis
Stage one of Timothy’s model is about feeling included. What would each of your team members say if they were asked, “Do you feel included in this team?” Inclusion in this model is about:
- Feeling accepted for who we are
- Believing we matter
- Feeling like we have a shared identity with others
Stage two of the model is about how safe it is to learn in the team. What would each of your team members say if they were asked, “How much are you learning and growing in this team?” This is about feeling safe during all parts of the learning process. This means:
- Being able to ask questions
- Giving and receiving constructive feedback
- Being able to experiment with new ideas and behaviours
- Making mistakes without being judged, ridiculed or punished
Stage three of the model is about feeling safe to contribute. What would each of your team say if I asked them, “To what extent are you able to make a difference in this team?” This is about team members:
- Feeling safe to contribute fully, using their skills, knowledge, and experience
- Feeling energised and enthusiastic
- Using what they’ve learned to contribute in meaningful ways
The final stage of the model is about feeling safe to challenge. What would each of your team say if I asked them, “How safe is it to challenge the status quo in this team?” This is about:
- There being respect and permission to dissent and disagree when something needs to change or is going wrong
- There being no pressure to conform
- There being freedom to be creative and innovate
Final thoughts
So now we’ve done a deep dive into psychological safety, how do you think your team culture would stack up? What work have your intentionally been doing to help create a psychologically safe team culture? What else are you inspired to do after listening to this episode?
If there was just one thing I suggest you do, it’s grab a notebook and pen, go somewhere quiet, and reflect on the question – “What part am I playing in the culture of my team?” This means thinking about the positive contributions you make and the unhelpful things you – deep down – know you do. Once you’ve got it all out of your head, choose one thing to work on. It might be easier to stop a thing rather than bring in a new thing.
About the Manage with Confidence podcast
The Manage with Confidence podcast is full of practical and evidence-based tools, tips and skills to help you be the best people manager possible.
It was launched in 2026 by Dr Hayley Lewis and is listened to by people managers, HR professions and coaches in 22 countries around the world. It exists to support people managers, because better managers means better business and better worklife.
You can find the podcast online including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and YouTube.
Post author: Dr Hayley Lewis. First published on the HALO Psychology website 2 October 2026 (updated 19 October 2026).
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References
Clark, T.R. (2026). The 4 stages of psychological safety. Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3), 521-535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.01.001