Psychological Safety Needs a New Partner
Self-Leadership
As the team settles in for the meeting, Sarah turns on the projector, and a bold headline appears on the screen: “New System Integration: Phase One.” A ripple of tension moves through the room. This isn’t just any project—it’s a major overhaul, a complete transformation of their system, affecting nearly every department and all their workflows. It’s the kind of change that brings both excitement and a nagging sense of uncertainty. Sarah knows it, and she can feel the weight in the room as everyone begins to process what lies ahead.
“We’re going to be the pilot team for this project,” Sarah announces, her voice strong yet sympathetic. “I won’t lie; this will be a challenge. But I believe we have the talent, creativity, and resilience to not only adapt but to thrive.” She pauses, looking around the table. “I need each of you to be a part of this—to bring forward your ideas, concerns, and solutions. Our success depends on us working together.”
Around the table, expressions vary. A few people nod, bracing themselves quietly. Others sit back, arms folded, brows knitted in scepticism. Then there’s Michael, staring down at his notebook, feeling the familiar tightening in his chest. His thoughts start to race. He’s been with the company long enough to understand the stakes of a project like this—to know that the pressure to deliver is real. The company’s future success hinges on this, and suddenly, he can feel the weight of expectation pressing on him like a stone. “What if I can’t keep up? What if I make a mistake that sets the whole team back?”
Sensing the tension, Sarah continues, “This will require every voice, every perspective. If there’s something we can do to make this rollout smoother, we need to hear it now. We’re here to support each other and to catch things before they become problems. Even if you’re feeling uncertain, I want to hear from you.”
Michael clenches his pen, his palms starting to sweat. She’s right, he thinks. I do have ideas. I can see potential problems no one’s brought up yet. He takes a deep breath, ready to speak, but the voice inside rises again, louder this time. “What if they think I’m just complaining? What if I’m wrong? Or worse—what if I slow everyone down?”
Despite Sarah’s words and the urgency of the situation, Michael keeps his ideas to himself, nodding along but staying silent, his heart pounding. He glances around and sees others with the same look—people who want to contribute but feel held back by invisible barriers. And it’s here, in this charged silence, that the true challenge of psychological safety appears. Sarah and the organisation can foster an open environment and encourage honesty, but they can’t reach into that quiet place in Michael’s mind, where his self-doubt, fear, and imposter syndrome lie.
As the meeting continues, Sarah highlights specific areas they’ll need to cover: process alignment, troubleshooting strategies, communication between departments. With each topic, Michael feels a spark of insight but suppresses it. The voice inside him whispers that perhaps someone else will mention it, someone more confident, someone who doesn’t carry that inner doubt.
In an ideal world, psychological safety would be as simple as the right words from a supportive leader. But Michael’s experience reveals a deeper layer—the struggle to feel secure within himself. For him to truly speak up, he needs tools to challenge his beliefs, to recognise when his own thoughts hold him back, and to move forward despite them. And Sarah, as a leader, begins to realise that fostering safety might mean helping her team build resilience from within.
If you’ve ever worked in an organisation that values psychological safety, you’ve probably heard the ideas from Amy Edmondson’s research. She’s been a game-changer, bringing us ideas that help make workplaces feel safer, where people can speak up, share ideas, take risks, and even make mistakes without fear of being punished. And that environment—one where everyone’s voice matters—is absolutely essential for growth, learning, and innovation.
While organizations and leadership teams are traditionally seen as responsible for creating a psychologically safe workplace, an often overlooked yet crucial element is the individual’s role in cultivating their own psychological safety through self-leadership. Relying solely on external factors—such as organizational policies and environmental controls—neglects the internal work individuals must do to address their beliefs, mindsets, and reactions to perceived threats. Without this self-leadership, organizations can invest in creating a psychologically safe environment, but still struggle to achieve genuine psychological safety due to individuals’ unresolved internal limitations, such as limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome.
The Missing Piece of Psychological Safety: Self-Leadership
Think about it this way: creating a psychologically safe culture means that leaders work to make it okay for people to speak up, admit mistakes, and even challenge ideas. That’s invaluable. But here’s the reality—sometimes, even in the safest workplaces, people still hold back.
Why?
Because what really determines whether someone feels psychologically safe is more than the external environment; it’s also what’s happening inside each person’s mind. As the leader, you cannot fully control psychological safety. Each person’s interpretation, response, and inner narratives play a pivotal role in their sense of safety. While there is an ecpectation that as an adult you can manage your own thoughts, feelings and inner narratives, society today is continually demonstrating this is not the case.
Why Self-Leadership Matters More Than We Think
Here’s the thing: even in a workplace that prides itself on psychological safety, people can still feel anxious, overwhelmed, or insecure. It happens. Organisational policies can create the foundation, but they can’t fully control how each person experiences a moment of stress, a tough conversation, or a fear of judgement.
That’s where self-leadership skills come into play. These are the skills that help someone recognise those limiting beliefs, step past self-doubt, and feel empowered to contribute. Self-leadership helps you choose how to respond when faced with that inner critic or a challenging situation. It’s the practice of learning to manage your reactions, handle stress, and keep those pesky self-doubts in check. It’s about having the inner resilience to feel safe enough to be vulnerable, take risks, and speak up, even when it’s a little uncomfortable. Imagine the difference when a person doesn’t just rely on the team around them to create safety, but also feels capable of managing their own responses to challenging moments.
Combining Organisational Support with Self-Leadership Skills
When self-leadership and psychological safety come together, workplaces start to thrive on a whole new level. It’s no longer just about having leaders create a safe space; it’s also about employees actively participating in that safety. Imagine a team where each member has both the external support of a psychologically safe culture and the internal tools to manage their own mindset.
This combination builds resilience. People aren’t just protected from fears; they’re empowered to face them. They don’t just feel safe; they feel capable. And that capability isn’t just beneficial in a safe environment—it’s the kind of strength that makes people adaptable, even in less-than-perfect environments.
Practical Steps: Bringing Self-Leadership into the Workplace
So, how do we get there? If organisations want to see true change, they need to make an investment in building self-leadership skills across the team. Here’s what that could look like:
Mindset Mastery: Help people recognise and shift those limiting beliefs that hold them back, so they feel more confident to step forward.
Emotional Regulation: Equip teams with tools to manage emotions in tough situations, which keeps stress and reactivity in check.
Resilience Training: Develop practices that encourage people to see setbacks as part of growth, turning challenges into learning opportunities instead of sources of frustration.
When individuals develop these skills, they’re not just waiting for a safe environment—they’re actively creating it from within. They’re meeting their workplace’s culture of psychological safety halfway, which creates alignment and boosts productivity. In these workplaces, psychological safety isn’t just a buzzword; it’s an experience felt at every level.
The Future of Psychological Safety: Empowerment from the Inside Out
So, yes, let’s keep building psychologically safe workplaces. Leaders absolutely have a responsibility to set the tone, encourage vulnerability, and create open spaces for dialogue. But true psychological safety—the kind that leads to high performance and real innovation—requires an inside-out approach.
Empowering individuals with self-leadership doesn’t just make people safer; it makes them stronger, more adaptable, and more engaged. It’s the difference between waiting for a leader to make us feel secure and knowing we have the tools to handle whatever comes our way.
When people feel safe both within and around them, that’s where the magic happens. Organisations become more than just safe—they become places where people are empowered, aligned, and ready to take on the challenges and opportunities that come their way.
If any of this resonates with you, join me for my upcoming webinar, The 6 Secrets of the World’s Most Successful People. I’ll share the roadmap that helped me—and can help you—find greater freedom from limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome.🚀
📅 When: Friday, 22nd November
💻 Where: On Zoom
What You’ll Learn:
✨ Proven strategies to boost confidence, build resilience, and take bold action
✨ Tools to overcome limiting beliefs and design a success path aligned with your unique potential
✨ Insights to help you reclaim control and set a clear direction in any area of life ❤️
Ready to transform your business and life? 💪
This isn’t just another webinar—it’s your pathway to sustainable success! 🌱
