Psychological Safety Isn't About Being Nice

What if trying to keep everyone comfortable is actually making your team less safe?

In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I tackle one of the biggest misconceptions I see around psychological safety: the idea that good leaders protect people from difficult conversations, disagreement, or discomfort. They don't.

Psychological safety means people can question decisions, admit mistakes, raise concerns, and bring uncomfortable truths into the room without fearing embarrassment, punishment, or retaliation. That doesn't remove accountability. In fact, when safety and accountability exist together, teams are far better equipped to learn, challenge one another, and perform under pressure.

I share what Amy Edmondson's work on psychological safety can teach us, lessons from Google's Project Aristotle, and an experience from my own consulting work where a leadership team believed they had created a safe culture until listening sessions revealed something very different.

I also offer a simple practice leaders can use immediately. At the end of an important meeting, ask: "What are we missing?" Then stay quiet long enough to hear the answer.

Because trust isn't built by avoiding hard conversations. It's built when people learn they can tell the truth and still be respected.

How safe is it really for someone on your team to disagree with you? Listen to the episode and share your thoughts with me.