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Part 3 of 4: Building Business Identity and Purpose
Picture this: you are in a team meeting, and a leader is discussing the company’s core values. Everyone in the room is nodding in agreement. You, though, have seen a big gap between what is being said and what actually happens every day. Do you speak up? Or do you stay quiet, knowing that questioning a leader can be a career-limiting move?
That moment is where an organisation’s purpose either lives or dies. The hesitation, the split second where someone decides to speak or remain silent, is a choice that affects the business. This is because psychological safety, a concept from Amy Edmonson, is a crucial part of an organisation’s success. It allows a company to translate its ‘why’ into actual success.
Psychological safety is not about being nice or avoiding disagreement. Instead, it is about creating a place where people feel safe to speak the truth. They feel safe to admit mistakes, ask questions, and challenge what is happening without fear of retribution. For businesses that are trying to build a real identity and purpose, psychological safety is the key.
Understanding Psychological Safety in Business
Edmondson defines psychological safety as a belief that a person can speak up without the risk of punishment or shame. This definition seems simple, but it has a big impact on a business’s identity and purpose. With psychological safety, people can be honest about what they see. They can be real about their concerns. They can be creative in their problem-solving. Without it, an organisation works with filtered information and suppressed opinions.
This idea connects to the work of Simon Sinek. His work helps organisations find their authentic ‘why.’ When employees do not feel safe being honest about customer interactions, how can an organisation find its true beliefs? The version of a company story that emerges from a psychologically unsafe place is often far from the real purpose.
Also, think about the Jobs-to-be-Done theory. This theory says that to understand what a customer really hires you to do, you need honest talks. You need to talk about what frustrates a customer, what needs are not met, and what the competition does better. Without psychological safety, these talks are filtered by internal politics and lead to a distorted perception of customer needs. It also results in poor planning and missed opportunities.
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
Edmondson’s work shows four stages of psychological safety. An organisation must go through these stages to reach its full potential. Understanding them helps leaders know where their teams are and what they need to do next.
Stage 1 is inclusion safety, which is the basic feeling of belonging. People feel safe to be themselves.They do not have to hide parts of their identity or background. In business, inclusion safety allows for different views and experiences to emerge. This is important for understanding complex customer jobs and creating new solutions.
Without inclusion safety, an organisation can suffer from groupthink. It can miss opportunities and customer needs. Teams where people feel they must conform to corporate expectations miss the insights that come from different backgrounds. This is costly when a company is trying to serve different customers or expand into new markets.
Stage 2 is learner safety, which is the confidence to learn by asking questions and asking for feedback. You are also confident to admit when you do not understand something. In a fast-moving business world, learner safety is crucial for adapting to new needs, changing market conditions, and new technology.
Organisations with a lot of learner safety can react quickly to market feedback since employees feel comfortable saying when a current approach is not working. Teams can also get a more accurate view of customer jobs as team members feel safe asking hard questions and looking into customer needs. They do this without fear of appearing incompetent.
Stage 3 is contributor safety, which is the feeling that you can give your unique value, skills, and views without fear of bad results. This is where the real work of fulfilling a purpose happens. When people feel safe giving their best ideas, they can align their strengths with the company’s mission.
Contributor safety is important for businesses that want to be different through a real purpose. Common contributions produce common results, but when people feel safe bringing their full abilities and views to work, they can create value that competitors cannot copy.
Stage 4 is challenger safety. This is the freedom to question and suggest improvements to the current way of doing things. This stage is where innovation thrives and where organisations can maintain a match between their purpose and their real operations over time.
Challenger safety allows an organisation to correct its course when it drifts from its purpose. Without it, a company can get stuck in old ways and lose touch with its core beliefs. It can also lose touch with the customer needs that once made it successful.
The Link Between Safety and Authenticity
Many leaders miss one key idea – authenticity requires vulnerability, and vulnerability requires safety. You cannot build a real purpose-driven organisation while keeping a culture that punishes honesty. Or have a culture that discourages questions or punishes creative risk-taking.
Consider what happens when organisations try to start purpose-driven initiatives without psychological safety. The leaders announce great missions, but employees quickly learn that asking questions is not welcome. The result is a fake purpose. Everyone says the right words. However, the real work continues as before. Employees who offer different ideas risk punishment.
Genuine organisational authenticity emerges when people feel safe being real while working toward a common goal. This authenticity means saying when current practices do not align with a company’s values. It also means admitting when customer feedback challenges common ideas. Lastly, it means having honest talks about what is and is not working.
Building a psychologically safe place is not about creating a new policy. It is about consistently showing through words and actions that curiosity is valued over certainty. Learning is valued over knowing. Truth-telling is valued over comfort.
Leaders are the most important part of this process. They show the behaviours that create psychological safety. This starts with how a leader reacts to questions, mistakes, and challenges. When someone points out a problem, the leader’s reaction shows everyone watching what is and is not safe.
Good leaders show psychological safety. They ask questions they do not know the answers to. They admit when they are wrong. They thank people for bringing up hard topics. They are curious about different ideas instead of defending their own. They also treat failures as learning chances rather than times for blame.
The words that a leader uses also shape psychological safety. Questions like, “What do you think?” and “Help me understand…” invite people to contribute. Statements like, “That will not work,” shut down the talk. Leaders who use inclusive words and ask open questions create a place where people feel safe to share their thoughts.
Building systems that support psychological safety is also important. This includes regular retrospectives where teams look at what is and is not working. It also includes anonymous feedback mechanisms. These tools allow for honest input without personal risk. Decision-making processes that really consider different views also help.
Organisations need to address the other barriers to psychological safety, including review systems that punish mistakes. It can also include promotion criteria that favour a person’s achievements over teamwork. Or, it can consist of resource processes that create competition between departments.
Two factors can strengthen this environment: kindness and social capital. It is easy to mix up kindness with niceness. Kindness is a choice to support someone else’s growth, well-being, or success. Kindness has a strength to it. Niceness is about being agreeable and avoiding uncomfortable moments. Kindness feeds a culture of psychological safety. Be kind.
Once kindness is embraced and a psychologically safe place is built, teams will strengthen their social bonds, which leads to an increase in teamwork. Team members who work well together, with mutual respect, help a company achieve goals it could not have otherwise. That is social capital. It is a state that any high-performing organisation should strive for.
Psychological safety provides the base that allows an authentic ‘why’ and a clear view of customer jobs to result in lasting success. Without it, purpose remains a marketing tool rather than a real thing. Customer ideas remain shallow rather than helpful. Huvaso can help. Our training courses teach leaders and teams to build this critical trust. We show you how to embed psychological safety into your daily work.
In our last post, we will look at how to bring these three ideas together. We will look at knowing your ‘why’, understanding customer jobs, and creating psychological safety. We will create a practical plan that turns a business’s identity into a competitive edge.
Coming Next: Part 4 – Integration and Action: Building Your Purpose-Driven Business Identity
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