The Hidden Key to Thriving Teams: How Trust Unlocks Team Potential
Psychological safety isn’t just a leadership trend; it’s a crucial foundation for a thriving workplace. While physical safety rightly garners attention—through measures like secured doors, surveillance, and visitor protocols—these efforts overlook a deeper need: the psychological safety of employees.
Unlike external threats, psychological safety addresses internal concerns, ensuring employees feel respected, valued, and free to express themselves without fear. Establishing this safe environment is essential for fostering engagement, driving innovation, and supporting overall well-being. Without it, employees are far more likely to disengage and, ultimately, to leave.
What is Psychological Safety?
Coined in 1999 by Amy Edmondson, she defined it as:
“A belief that no one will be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes, and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
In 2012, Google created Project Aristotle which set out to investigate the differences between high and low performance teams. They spent significant time and resources and could not find anything that was consistent across teams which could explain why some teams were effective or not, until they stumbled on Edmondson’s work, after which, they were able to definitively correlate psychological safety with the high performing teams.
Patrick Lencioni’s work on The Five Dysfunctions of a Team reinforces Edmondson’s work as he talks about trust being the basis of an effective team.
“Trust is the confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. In essence, teammates must get comfortable being vulnerable with one another.”
His concept of trust and Edmondson’s psychological safety are very similar.
Why is Psychological Safety Important?
Psychological safety affects productivity, creativity and morale (and consequently, employee retention/turnover).
Consider these statistics:
Psychological Safety was rated in the top three things employees most value (reference)
Gen Z want their employer to support their mental and physical wellness including their physical and psychological safety. This group will make up nearly one third of the workforce by 2025 (reference)
60% of employees who do not feel psychologically safe feel burned out and 34% are considering quitting their job. Conversely, if they feel psychologically safe, only 5% feel burned out and only 3% are considering quitting their job. (reference)
1 in 4 organizations repot that psychological safety is the top driver of employee retention (reference)
Benefits of psychological safety include (reference)
27% reduction in turnover
50% more productivity
57% more collaboration among employees
Improving psychological safety can lead to up to a 27% reduction in turnover, a 40% reduction in safety incidents and a 12% increase in productivity (reference)
70% of Canadian employees are concerned about the psychological health and safety of their workplace. (reference)
Whether your organization relies on paid employees or volunteers, fostering a psychologically safe environment is critical.
Case Study
In one organization, a volunteer with nearly two decades of experience joined the team, ready to contribute valuable insights and ideas. However, from the start, several group members displayed dismissive and disrespectful behaviour toward the volunteer. Attempting to address the issue, the volunteer approached the leader, only to be met with a passive-aggressive response.
Feeling dismissed and unsupported, the volunteer ultimately made the difficult choice to leave. This experience underscores the critical importance of psychological safety—not only for paid employees but for volunteers who bring dedication and expertise. Without a respectful, open environment, organizations risk losing passionate contributors who feel unable to bring their full value to the table.
Why Psychological Safety Matters in Leadership
Benefits of psychological safety (or that base layer of trust) include:
Improved performance
Greater creativity and innovation
Enhanced team cohesion
Increased openness to taking risks
Higher employee retention
As Lencioni relates in his work, team members who work in a safe environment feel valued, respected, free to take risks and are more willing to collaborate and innovate.
How Do You Foster Trust and Psychological Safety?
Lead by Example: you need to model respect, honesty and vulnerability.
Establish Clear Communication: share ways to receive and solicit feedback that leaves people feeling welcomed and respected
Encourage & Support: recognize contributions, show appreciation and provide constructive feedback
Be Proactive in Conflict Management: address potential conflict early to avoid a buildup of tension. Teach others how to resolve conflict so they do not become reliant on you.
Value Individual Differences: understand personalities (DISC is a great tool) and adapt your style to their preferred style
Create a Team Agreement: working with your team, create a team agreement which sets expectations for how people behave so as to create and foster trust
Address Inappropriate Behaviour: when some acts in a way that contravenes the team agreement, or that negatively affects individual or team trust, privately address it and set expectations for future behaviour
Complete a 360 Review: have a neutral third party conduct a 360 review to determine your strengths and potential blind spots in terms of fostering and building a trustworthy environment
Be Transparent: share all appropriate information in a transparent manner.
Signs of a Safe Team Culture
As Lencioni presents in his model, when you have strong team trust you will see evidence presented as follows:
Vigorous debate with everyone participating.
Discussions and debate are idea-centered (not people centered)
People are willing to ask questions.
People are willing to admit mistakes and ask for help.
Past disagreements are not brought up in current disagreements or debates.
The team is focused on an end-goal, rather than on individual needs.
People are willing to share personal challenges with you.
People collaborate with each other and work well together.
Everyone has equal opportunities to speak.
Team members accept input and questions about their area of expertise
People give each other the benefit of the doubt.
Individuals offer feedback and help.
Team members apologize willingly.
What’s Next:
Read these blog posts:
Complete a DISC assessment and get coaching individually, or as team training
Do a 360 Review (I can do these)
Do a Personal Assessment for The Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team and understand how you approach trust.
Sign up for Leadership Toolbox
Watch Amy Edmondson’s TED Talk
Read Edmondson’s book: the fearless organization
Read Lencioni’s book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Listen to radio show
Review Lencioni’s work on my Resource Page:
Book Review – 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
