The Future of Work Is The Future Of Leadership - Inclusivity and Psychological Safety

At the start of February, I wrote an article called “How To Successfully Lead Your Hybrid Team.”

I have also been doing a series of videos called “The Future of Work Is The Future of Leadership.”

The driver for both the article, the videos and this article is that the future of work is hybrid and the fact that most of our leaders are not ready, They have not done this before and are just not equipped.

If we do not change this situation, It is going to have devastating effect on our hybrid workforce. Increased stress, uncertainty, anxiety, fatigue and burnout will result and no employer should be prepared to accept that as a future state. No one.

This is uncharted territory. Let’s chart it.

Inclusivity and Psychological Safety

This is my hybrid leadership model that is evolving the more I write about it.

Let’s look at inclusivity and psychological safety.

Inclusivity

Good leaders make such that everyone feels included and valued regardless of where they work.

In many organisations, working from home was once frowned upon and considered shirking from home.

As hybrid teams becomes the norm, you can not discriminate based on where an employee works from.

There is no place for proximity bias. This is the incorrect belief that employees will produce better work if they are physically present in the office and you can see, (and hear) them doing their work. This only creates cultural conflicts and divides between workers in the office and those working remotely.

As a leader, you have to ensure that every member of the team, regardless of their location, feels an integral part of the team.

Everyone needs a sense of belonging due to the care and compassion you demonstrate. Therefore, you need to lead with empathy. You need to know team members on a more personal level and check in regularly how they are feeling.

You should encourage participation. You should invite people into discussions and ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute.

Team-building activities are critical and you need to find out what will work for your teams. Draw on the ideas from across the team to generate a diversity of activities that can be utilised virtually.

Check-in with each and every member of your team on a regular basis.

In addition to regular scheduled one-on-one check-ins, “drop-by” as you would in a physical environment. Make an impromptu phone-call or video call and have the sort of conversation you would have had at the water cooler.

Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is an environment in which everyone is comfortable expressing themselves. People are comfortable to ask questions, challenge ideas and basically be themselves.

They feel safe at work and comfortable sharing concerns or mistakes without fear of embarrassment or negative repercussions. There is no such thing as a “silly” question.

Creating psychological safety does not happen overnight. You have to be intentional about it and get buy-in from all of your employees.

At the core of psychological safety is trust. Just like building trust in a person, it takes time, and sometimes even a few missteps to get it right. It’s also important to remember that building psychological safety isn’t a check-the-box initiative. It’s an ever-evolving work in progress as the team grows and matures over time.

Celebrate mistakes

Without psychological safety, your employees may not speak out if they have made a mistake. As a leader you should encourage everyone to share mistakes and failures. Don’t refer to them as failures but setbacks from which we can learn.

If we want experimentation, creativity and innovation we are going to have setbacks.

The increasing complexity in the world we work in means that will inevitably be setbacks.

Don’t just bounce back. Rather, bounce forward having learned from the experience and be better for it.

As a leader, share mistakes you have made or setbacks you had and what you learned from them. Your employees will take their cue from you.

VULNERABILLITY

You can create psychological safety when you show everyone else that you are “human.” Like everyone else, you also have setbacks and make mistakes. You do not have all the answers. You too can feel anxious and stressed.

Admit that you have been wrong and could be wrong in the future.

Being vulnerable is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of courage.

When you show your vulnerability, others will be prepared to do the same.

FEEDBACK

Encourage everyone to provide you with feedback. Be prepared for responses you may not like but unless you listen and appreciate the feedback, your employees will not speak up.

Your team need to know that whatever they say will not suffer because of it.

When someone is prepared to ask you a challenging question or give you considered feedback, remember that they may have deliberated for sometime and found the courage to speak up. Thank them for their input on a one-on-one basis. If appropriate, thank them publicly to encourage others to do the same.

Listen

You have to actively listen to understand what your employees are saying. When employees know that they are heard and that their contribution is valued, they will do more of the same.

You also have to be prepared to take action on what you have heard.

CURIOUSITY

Be curious about what the members of you team bring to table. Be curious about what you don’t know and encourage others to do the same. When you ask many questions you create the need for voices.

Summary

Building inclusivity and creating psychological safety is an ongoing process an it takes commitment. It will deliver high levels of engagement and a high performing team.