Psychological Safety

It's not a buzzword

As “Mental Health Awareness Week” came to an end recently, this is a reminder that it’s so much more than one week, and to try and be empathetic to others all year round, you never know what’s happened or is happening in someone’s life...

Emotional Intelligence was the focus and now it’s Psychological Safety - which to me makes so much sense. I’ve had the term emotional intelligence used against me by managers in gaslighting ways. I fundamentally believe in it, but I don’t believe it’s there as a buzzword just to try and keep someone down.

Psychological Safety is “being able to show and employ one's self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career. It can be defined as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. In psychologically safe teams, team members feel accepted and respected.”

This should be the norm, and I will 100% do my part to make sure it’s brought into any organisation, project or team I work with.