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Have you ever felt psychologically unsafe at work?

Hey friend,

Have you ever felt psychologically unsafe at work? I hope you say no, but I know I might be wrong here. But first, let's understand what Psychological safety is.

It is a belief that you are allowed to make mistakes, and it's okay to make them; you won't be punished for it.

Let me share a story with you. When I started as an entry-level developer, my manager asked me only to ask good questions, not bad ones. Before that, I believed every question was a good question as it showcases where you lack understanding and how we can bridge it.

But that wasn't the case here. Throughout my work term, I held off from asking questions as I didn't know what a good question meant to him. It made the next month or so very unsafe for me. I would spend hours contemplating whether it was a good question or not, which was unhealthy for me and the org. 😞
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I always look back to this incident as it shaped me into the leader, I am today. If you ask me something you weren't sure of, I know it would save you minutes or hours of work trying to find the answer to that question. This would make you less productive, so I would always happily answer anything.

This was just one example of how making others feel psychologically safe is essential for your products and their growth. 💯

Here is how you can define safety psychologically in a team:

  • You don’t feel afraid to make mistakes
  • You feel comfortable taking risks and picking up complex tasks
  • Your opinions are considered, and you feel a valued member of the team
  • You are appreciated for being your authentic self and aren't expected to be someone else

There is more, but these are just a few starter points to get you thinking.

As a takeaway, think about which manager or co-worker made you feel psychologically safe and write down what they did to make you feel that way. Next time, you can do the same for others. 🙌

Last week's Practice Scenario 💪

Last week, I mentioned an example scenario and asked you to step into a leader's shoes and think about how you would handle this scenario. I promised to share how I would handle this scenario.

But, if your memory is anything like mine 😂, I know you would need a reminder of what that question was. So, here you go,

👉 Here is an example scenario I want you to practice:

You, as a manager, have to provide feedback to your direct report that is being rude - interrupting conversations, delaying
meetings, being disrespectful and making it an unhealthy culture.
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Your direct report thinks they need to step in to be a leader and has significantly impacted the team.

Here is how I would handle this scenario:

You can start by asking about their intent for jumping in. Once you learn more, you can craft your reply accordingly.
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I know you are very excited about your promotion and impact on this team. I appreciate everything you have been doing, and the team appreciates it too, but one thing is holding you back. I want to see you grow and are very close to your goals.
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I know you probably know this but growing to the next level is not just about being good at your craft; it is also about working harmoniously with your co-workers.
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I wanted to share two specific examples (share those). The impact was that the team felt unsafe sharing their ideas. I know you care a lot and probably stepped in for me, which I appreciate, but can we work on this together to ensure your feedback is delivered to put you in a good spot? Let's focus on this together over the next few meetings and work together.

We focused on its impact on the team and their behaviour, shared how we could work together, and assured them that they were not alone. Appreciating their effort in the beginning also validated their feelings, but they learned there is a bit more work here.

We could tweak it and improve this, but the above would be my first pass. I would practice the above feedback before delivering to get the outcome we both want.

Content Creation Journey 🪴

I finally LAUNCHED the FREE 1-week course on The Leader's Playbook: The First 90 Days on Twitter. I did it! It was nerve-wracking, but many people came to support me, and I appreciate that, so thank you!

Here is the Twitter post. 🚀 It feels unreal that it's finally out after spending 100+ hours on this course. There is still time to retweet it 😛.

But, I made a mistake while launching on LinkedIn.

If you know me, you know I'm all about being real. I also shared the course on LinkedIn, but I wondered why people weren't engaging even after 1-2 hours.

It turns out attaching a clickable link to your posts has a bug 🐛 and doesn't work for everyone 😅. I firmly believe now, demo and launch days are cursed. 😂

I decided to delete the post as there wasn't a way to edit the post, so I decided to postpone the launch. Next week, Tuesday at 9 am EST, I plan to give it another try launching on LinkedIn. If you can drop by, comment and re-share with your network, I'd appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Here is what a Software Engineer that completed the course: The Leader's Playbook: The First 90 Days said:

The direction of this course is excellent. 🚀
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It also has notes to make you think deeply about each lesson. Making people write about things makes you reflect.
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And lastly, the recommendation and the extras added in Notion would make me want to revisit the lessons and think of what I wrote once I become a leader in a company.

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