Bank managers are required to anticipate and mitigate risks to their employees’ physical safety. They also are expected to safeguard cash and other assets. Oddly, however, they typically are not required to create a psychologically safe workplace where team members are willing to be vulnerable, admit mistakes and seek help. Psychological safety isn’t just a nice to have, it is a must have, in order for teams to reach their full potential.
High-performing teams achieve psychological safety by increasing the willingness to engage in productive or “healthy” conflict and decreasing (if not eliminating) social friction such as gossip and score keeping. They can disagree respectfully, even intensely, but they do not make it personal. Sounds simple but it takes work to create an environment where colleagues feel comfortable engaging in this kind of dialogue.
Decreasing social friction on teams begins with the leader modeling the behavior they expect from each team member. How does the leader react when a team member disagrees with them or makes a mistake? What behavior do they indirectly support by avoiding difficult conversations? Many leaders are quick to judge their employees’ behavior and reactions, but many are unwilling or lack the self-awareness to reflect on their own behavior and recognize the part they play in team dynamics.
Let’s imagine a financial institution that is growing rapidly through acquisition. Their board and leadership engage in annual strategic planning, track progress quarterly toward goals and share KPIs regularly with team members. They are fully engaged with their mission and purpose. Each acquisition requires a project team, consisting of leaders and subject matter experts from every area of the bank. The team has gathered and worked together on several projects and has experienced little turnover. Conversations can get heated as team members debate options, weigh the importance of consistency vs. flexibility, and assign tasks. At the end of each meeting, they practice gratitude by thanking everyone for their insight and summarize the next steps.
Their experiences together include post-project conversations about what went well and what went sideways. They are willing to take responsibility for their teams, admit mistakes and ask for feedback. If this sounds a bit more like utopia and less like your experience, let’s put a spin on it.
Same bank, same team, same planning. The leaders unfortunately have not created a psychologically safe environment, and their project meetings reflect their lack of leadership. People do not debate during the meetings and many end in awkward silence. Each project meeting is followed by several one-off meetings where individual business unit leaders meet to complain about each other. Each leader feels they and their team are the only ones who care about the outcome of the project. If “they” would stop being difficult, the project would go much smoother. Mistakes are covered up. If these do make it into the light, leaders blame others and do not take personal accountability of their team’s actions and results. Seems like a fun group.
The contrast is quite stark. I have personally held these meetings after the meeting and, while I felt justified at the time, I understand now how I was not modeling the appropriate behavior and creating damage with my peers. Productive conflict is difficult to engage in without a base of trust between leadership team members. When we don’t trust the person’s intentions toward us during a debate, we are most likely going to misinterpret their intent. Our mental scorekeeping will be on high alert, our brains will be in threat mode and our emotions will be leading the way, whether we express these emotions through outbursts or by not engaging in the meeting via silent protest.
Leadership is a daily choice. We can’t be disengaged or play the victim. Each day, set your intention: Will you model vulnerability? Will you own your mistakes? By taking responsibility, you can create a mentally safe environment where your team members feel free to debate and still come together.
Christy Baker is a facilitator and coach focusing on organizational health and strategies for Omaha-based Revela. She provides group training and individual coaching and is a former COO for an Iowa-based community banking group. She can be reached at [email protected]. Visit RevelaGroup.com/podcast to learn more.