5 ways to coach leaders in Psychological Safety
As a leadership coach, there are a handful of topics that come up repeatedly, regardless of the organization, industry, or experience level of the manager. These include time management, delegation, interpersonal conflict, retention concerns, awkward 1-on-1s or team meetings, repeated mistakes, miscommunication, developing their people, and setting impactful goals. While it’s humbling to realize that everyone struggles with these things, it also seems like we’re treating the symptoms and not getting to the root of the problem when we tackle these issues one at a time. And I suspect that the root lies somewhere between intrinsic motivation and Psychological Safety.
Intrinsic motivation answers the question, Is this work fulfilling? It taps into the values that drive us, the parts of us that choose to engage in our work because we find it satisfying and enjoyable. It’s fueled by things like having a say in what we do and how we do it, realizing that we’re getting better, and seeing that work has a positive impact on others. This sense of fulfillment has to come from within, but effective managers are aware of the impact they can have on their team’s intrinsic motivation and take steps to ensure that influence is a positive one.
Psychological Safety answers the question, Is it safe to take risks that could move us forward? “Us” is key to this question because Psychological Safety exists at team level—it’s not a matter of me, or even me and you, it’s all of us in the team. Whereas trust depends on whether you can rely on someone to do what they say, Psychological Safety is an atmosphere where people expect their team will give them the benefit of the doubt if they make a mistake or say something that challenges the status quo. Here again, leaders set the tone and can play an active role in either nurturing the existing Psychological Safety within their team or repairing it.
Here are five themes that coaches can explore to help the leaders they work with understand this interplay of Psychological Safety and intrinsic motivation in their teams.
1. Empathy & Emotional Intelligence
Emotionally intelligent leaders have an awareness of their own emotions and the emotions of others, and make choices with an understanding of how they interact. Sometimes managers are inadvertently shutting down the motivation and safety in their teams because they are expressing frustration, impatience, or disappointment. Other times they are focusing the communication on what the company or leadership wants, without fully considering their team members’ points of view. How do they react to receiving “bad news” from the team? When was the last time a member of the team raised a “wild idea” for improving things, and did they shut it down or give it a try? Coaching around empathy can bring a much-needed shift in perspective and help leaders build a toolkit for handling challenging situations with emotional intelligence.
2. Expressing Gratitude & Positive Feedback
The idea of “catching people doing good work” is not new; however, it often falls in the category of things people know but don’t do. When a leader is struggling with how to give difficult feedback, I become curious about how they deliver positive feedback as well—not just how, but how often and under what circumstances. All too often, we focus on the things that aren’t going well and take the good news for granted. Being seen and appreciated for your hard work is important to everyone, not only those team members who are particularly motivated by Feedback. It’s also important for managers to acknowledge when their people are acting with bravery and taking smart risks, even especially when they fail. The same skill set that helps leaders communicate constructive feedback with clarity and sincerity also enables them to say thank you with enough specificity to make it meaningful.
3. Clarity & Alignment
So many performance or time management challenges come down to a lack of clear priorities or understanding of the big-picture impact that the team is working toward. When team members know why their work is important and have the flexibility and Autonomy to approach it in a way that leverages their unique Motivators, they are much more likely to put in the discretionary effort that drives engagement (and results). Similarly, teams can assess potential risks more effectively when they know exactly what they’re trying to do—i.e., you can’t think outside the box if you don’t know where the box is. Whenever a leader is frustrated about these symptoms within their team, I find it helpful to reflect on the manager's clarity around their priorities first. Only then can we look at the direction their team should be moving in and how to improve the communication about that mission with their members.
4. Tailoring Communication & Goals
This builds on the previous three themes because it’s most effective when the other pieces are in place; that’s also why it’s such a powerful action for managers to take. Tailoring communication requires that leaders put themselves in their members’ shoes and see them as whole people while being self-aware enough to recognize their own patterns and identify how to adjust their approach to be more resonant with the people they lead. To do this well, managers also need to have established trust and developed skills around authentic communication. With those keystones laid, they can seek to align their team members with the team, the organization, and the impact they are having on the communities they support. Tools like Attuned’s Intrinsic Motivator Report and Interpersonal Motivator Gaps can be powerful resources for managers who are trying to understand how to customize goals most effectively, leveraging the unique drivers that are especially motivating to each person.
5. Develop Shared Understanding
As managers progress on their coaching journey within these themes and see the positive results that come with it, they will probably want to help their team members develop similar skills. Coaches can support this process by discussing how leaders facilitate team meetings, react to team members who bring them interpersonal issues, and what the team’s rules of engagement are (formal or informal) for working with each other in a psychologically safe way. Managers often find it helpful to set intentions and get feedback from other people, including their colleagues and team members, and revisit this plan a few times throughout the year to ensure that it still meets the needs of the team.
Building the Foundations
Clients rarely show up for a coaching session wanting to discuss topics like intrinsic motivation and Psychological Safety, but this doesn’t mean they’re not the most important thing to focus on during your time together. They lie deep below the surface and can feel overwhelming to tackle, even after the need to improve them is known. Working on the building blocks for motivation and safety takes time, commitment, and a growth mindset; however, this is exactly where coaches can have the biggest impact. By creating a safe, reflective, and (sometimes) challenging space for exploring these topics we can help our clients build a strong foundation to support their teams in doing the same.
Download our whitepaper on Psychological Safety and the Hybrid Work Era. It’s free!
