The pandemic, geopolitical instability, and unpredictable markets have made organizational resilience like food in the desert: critical for survival, but challenging to grow. By making resilience a strategic priority, leaders ensure that their organizations can stretch and adapt.
Resilient Organizations Make Psychological Safety a Strategic Priority
How leaders can enhance integrity, innovation, and inclusion.
August 25, 2022
Danil Nevsky/Stocksy
Summary.
Much has been written about psychological safety’s role in improving workplace wellness and even in helping stem the tide of the Great Resignation. But to weather uncertainty, organizations need to look beyond individual well-being and make psychological safety a strategic priority, creating a culture where employees can comfortably raise concerns, contribute ideas, and share unique perspectives. Three cultural dimensions are critical for resilience: integrity, innovation, and inclusion. They sustain business continuity, competitiveness, and growth — and psychological safety is a fundamental component of each. To strengthen resilience, leaders must understand how to connect these three siloed dimensions of culture and develop leadership attributes that encourage candor. In this article, the authors explore the obstacles to investing in psychological safety and illustrate how senior leaders can overcome these obstacles to boost resilience.