What does psychological safety actually feel like to a human being?

In this episode, I’m joined by psychological safety expert Tom Geraghty for a fascinating conversation about what sits underneath one of the most widely used terms in today’s workplace.

Tom challenges the idea that psychological safety can simply be measured as an organisation-wide score. We explore why two people in the same team, with the same leader, can experience work completely differently — and how power, past experiences, neurodiversity, socioeconomic background and context can all influence whether we feel safe to take interpersonal risks.

We also explore the relationship between the individual and the system: how do we give people agency without accidentally making them responsible for an unsafe environment?

Tom introduces ideas from Human and Organisational Performance, including local rationality, the sharp end and blunt end, and the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done. We discuss why people are often the solution rather than the problem, and why understanding the reality of work matters more than simply asking people to follow the process.

And, importantly for HUMAN LENS®, we explore the relationship between psychological safety and authenticity. Tom shares why there may be more than one authentic version of ourselves, what it means when a workplace forces us to mask or adapt in ways that don’t feel comfortable, and the surprisingly simple thing leaders can do to help:

Slow down.

A thoughtful conversation about voice, needs, power, systems, human behaviour and creating workplaces where people can feel safe to be themselves.

Tom Geraghty / Psych Safety: psychsafety.com

Tom Geraghty’s own site: tomgeraghty.co.uk

Authentic Ewe®: authenticewe.com

HUMAN LENS®: HUMAN LENS®

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if psychological safety isn’t only something an organisation or leader gives you?

In this episode of the Authentic Ewe® Podcast, Penelope Aiken is joined by psychologist, executive coach and bestselling author Dr Adam Dorsay to explore connection, meaning, strengths and a different way of thinking about psychological safety.

Adam is the author of Super Psyched: Unleash the Power of the 4 Types of Connection and Live the Life You Love, which explores four areas of human connection: ourselves, other people, the world around us and something greater.

Their conversation raises a question at the heart of the developing HUMAN LENS® methodology:

Have we focused so heavily on what organisations and leaders should do to create psychological safety that we’ve overlooked the importance of helping individuals understand what they need, meet some of those needs for themselves, and communicate those needs to others?

Penelope and Adam explore:

• why psychological safety is both environmental and internal
• the importance of locus of control when circumstances around us feel unsafe
• why people need different things in order to feel psychologically safe
• the relationship between safety, challenge and growth
• why psychological safety needs to be demonstrated and practised, not simply talked about
• how job crafting can create greater meaning and connection to work
• intrinsic motivation versus external rewards
• how VIA Character Strengths can help people understand what matters to them
• why organisations may need to give people a “menu” of possibilities when asking what they need to feel safe, rather than expecting them to know immediately

It’s a conversation about giving people greater agency without removing the responsibility organisations and leaders have to create healthy, psychologically safe environments.

And it provides an important piece of the research informing HUMAN LENS® — Authentic Ewe’s developing methodology for creating workplaces where people feel safe to be their authentic selves.

Learn more about Dr Adam Dorsay:

https://dradamdorsay.com

Explore Super Psyched:

https://dradamdorsay.com/super-psyched-book-page/

Listen to Adam’s SuperPsyched podcast and learn more about his work:

https://dradamdorsay.com

Explore Authentic Ewe®:

https://www.authenticewe.com

Listen to the Authentic Ewe® Podcast:

https://shows.acast.com/authentic-ewe-podcast

Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/authentic-ewe-podcast/id1835334323

Hosted by Penelope Aiken | Authentic Ewe®

HUMAN is what people need. LENS is how we create it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus episode of the Authentic Ewe® Podcast, Penelope Aiken asks Jeffrey Allen two questions at the heart of authenticity and psychological safety:

What do you need to feel safe to be your authentic self?

And what can you do to help someone else feel safe to be theirs?

Jeffrey shares his perspective on self-judgment, unconditional love, compassion and the importance of creating space for other people to be who they are.

His reflections offer a powerful reminder that feeling safe to be ourselves often starts with how we relate to ourselves — and how much judgment we bring into our relationships with others.

This conversation also connects closely with the thinking behind HUMAN LENS® and its focus on understanding what people need to feel safe to be their authentic selves.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.