Psychologically Safe Leaders

22/01/2023

Recently wrote this article for BRAINZ magazine about the advantages of psychological safety in the workplace and why it's a good idea to embrace this approach to leading your people.

Psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. It is a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Workplace psychological safety has become increasingly impo...

21/11/2022

Had a blast in Brisbane last week presenting a couple of workshops to The Executive Connection (TEC) Australia and New Zealand on the topic of Psychological Safety with a focus on the mental states that either promote or diminish the creation of a safe environment for everyone.

A special thank you to Amanda Cole and Andrew Wynne for inviting me to present to their teams and for being wonderful hosts.

Australia, I hope to see you again real soon 😍

03/11/2022

Not much of the year left, now might be a good time to reflect on how well you have been able to voice your expertise, how valued you feel within your team and how easy has it been to thrash out problems and have decisions made.

One of the easiest ways to tell whether your team is psychologically safe is to take note of how many members contribute to discussions, if they are all contributing, chances are your team is in a good space, if just one member is not contributing, there may be deeper issues going on with your team.

If you are noticing the latter, all is not lost, there is a way to develop psychological safety for every member of the team! If this is resonating with you, why not reach out and have a chat about it. you can book a 15min chat here: https://lnkd.in/g6dzkbfH

25/10/2022

Looking forward to sharing the stage with Carl Davidson with our "Becoming Unquittable" session, demonstrating the 5 areas that Accounting Partners need to get right so their employees never want to leave.

Carl has even managed to roll in his love of country music, Scott Wagenvoord have you heard the rumors of his singing lessons? Sure to be an interesting session 😃

24/10/2022

Something that we all inherently know, but now the Surgeon General in the US as released information guiding organisations on where they need to focus to improve the mental and physical health of their employees.

It seems a long road to get business in general to protect their people with the same vigor as they protect their profits but it's great to see a steady flow of information being shared on how to do exactly that.

A mentally healthy workplace includes growth opportunities, work-life balance and community, according to America’s doctor.

21/10/2022

I have been involved as a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Christchurch for 10years now. They provide an incredible service for children that are impacted by their challenging situations.

They are always looking for mentors to support these children. It's something that I have found super rewarding and it only takes 1 hour of my time each week.

If you have time to spare and want to make a difference to our youngest generation, why not reach out to your local Big Brothers Big Sisters and have a chat with them!

17/10/2022

The new passport has arrived, now I'm all set for my first trip to Australia (in November) since COVID hit. Going to be talking to a couple of groups of business leaders in Brisbane about what Psychological Safety is, how to create and hold a safe space and use it to have better conversations with their colleagues.

Love what I do!

10/10/2022

Carl Davidson and I were recently co-presenting at the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand annual conference in Queenstown. We had a blast talking about "how to make your organisation Unquittable".

Only the genius of Carl could roll the great resignation with the lyrics from the queen of country music Dolly Parton, it was a privilege to be on stage with him!!

22/09/2022

Super stoked to be invited onto the The Executive Connection (TEC) podcast talking with Stephanie Christopher about psychological safety, why there is a need for this in every organisation.

We finish off with the 3 things leaders can start doing to help them adopt a more psychologically safe approach.

Dave Sewell, shares his perspective about the importance of leaders putting psychological safety at the core of everybody's development.

30/08/2022

It was a pleasure and a privilege to co-present with Carl Davidson at our Flustered and Bewildered workshop in Auckland last week. This particular presentation pulled our research in Burnout and Critical thinking, brought them together to challenge this leadership team in how to roll out change without burning out themselves and there internal clients along the way.

Big take away for me was Carl talking about Hofstadter's Law; it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into consideration Hofstadter's Law!

19/08/2022

I came across this recently, which resonates with what I have been teaching about how often the brain needs a break when doing highly cognitive (complex) tasks.

I guess that means it's time to stop work and have a cup of tea?

Finally, social scientists suggest a precise time for mid-afternoon coffee runs.

25/07/2022

It was a privilege to talk to Lindsay Recknell recently about psychological safety, the mindset behind it which allows leaders to stay more curious and less judgemental about the behaviours and performance of the people they are leading.

We also talk about psychological aggression, if that is present in any team, it is impossible to have psychological safety, this needs to be removed first.

I love Lindsay's podcast, she has a wonderful range of professionals that she has talked to, all to help the mental health of leaders. Grab a coffee and tune in!

Psychological aggression is rampant in the workplace, but it doesn’t have to be. A few tweaks to body language and behavior response and you’re on your way to a safe workplace.