Crystal's Notes 5 July

I’ve had many conversations with senior executives who say, “I don’t understand. I’m not that scary. There are all these posters around the room to encourage my people to speak up. Why won’t they just tell me what’s wrong?”

Leaders, no matter if they’re from public or private sectors, need to understand that part of their job scope is to be the architect of intentional culture, and devote time and effort to put in place systems for the inclusive culture they want to see. There are many practical actions leaders can take:

• Informal and formal feedback channels

• Culture change projects

• Leadership and facilitation training for leaders to run meetings in an inclusive way.

Leaders must know that 50% of their job scope is the “what” they need to deliver, and the other 50% is the “how” the team does what they do, which is everything to do with culture, behaviour, and habits on the ground. It is illogical and unfair to expect people with less power and security to do all the work of finding the right levers.

Also, the psychological safety that people need in order to speak up, is closely affected by the power distance in the culture of the team. How hierarchical is the company culture? How much do people expect the people at the top to have the most power? Are you expecting all your employees to always call you by your title, or show you extreme deference?

You cannot have a culture of innovation or safety with an extremely hierarchical mentality because innovations necessitates challenging the status quo. And in these cultures, the subtext is that it is not safe for you to challenge. So people keep quiet and what breeds is a culture of artificial harmony instead of constructive challenge.

I work with many MNCs who spend a lot of time doing intentional culture and leadership work. Some of the best ones are actually the pharmaceutical companies and STEM sector, or engineering type firms. Their leaders tend to have an engineering mindset and want to commit to systemic change. Those that find such work challenging are the leaders and industries that want fast results but are not willing to do the work.

What happens when people feel psychologically safe? You get sharper thinking, early warnings before things spiral, and better outcomes. If you’re serious about learning how to do this well, our training programmes give you the tools.

Much love

Crystal