Creating a ripple effect: how leadership behaviours shape psychological safety

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”

– Maya Angelou

Psychological safety is a concept that has spread through the corporate world like wildfire, being implicated in policies, leadership frameworks, and development programmes alike. It broadly refers to employees feeling at ease taking risks, expressing thoughts and concerns, acknowledging mistakes, and sharing feedback, all without the fear of negative repercussions. At its core, it’s about how we feel within our social environment; characterized by a sense of security, comfort, and the absence of fear. This ‘safe’ emotional state empowers individuals to voice concerns, take risks, and contribute their perspectives.

With its clear driving force in the workplace – boosting wellbeing, performance, and ultimately the bottom line – considering its drivers and opportunities for impact are key. At Positive, we've partnered with numerous organisations to measure psychological safety within their ranks, unveiling noteworthy variations across and within businesses. This varies significantly across levels of seniority, departments, geographies, and demographic factors. So, it’s fair to say, we could all do with understanding how to sustain and enhance psychological safety. Organisational change is an extremely challenging endeavor, as it involves altering the behaviour of the masses. This requires a strategic approach and the application of robust methodologies that have been tried and tested in the real world.

Burke-Litwin created a model (below) to illustrate the various drivers of change within an organisation and ranked them in terms of their impact (with the most significant levers towards the top). This model argues that all the listed factors are inter-related; meaning a change in one will eventually affect the others. If we apply this model to driving positive change around psychological safety, this is suggesting that beyond external factors that might influence how people feel (for example, economic uncertainty – linked to job security – which will undoubtedly impact psychological safety), the greatest lever for change is leadership behaviours. This might not be immediately intuitive, given that leadership doesn't interact extensively with every individual day to day. Hence, it’s intriguing to consider the mechanisms through which leadership have this unparalleled ability to drive change.

The behaviours of leaders fundamentally shape the culture and social norms of an organisation, determining whether emotions and behaviours cascade in a supportive, compassionate, and authentic manner, or if they are driven by fear and unreasonable expectations.

Positive’s data supports that leadership behaviours have an extraordinary impact across the whole organisation’s sense of psychological safety. The below model highlights the 3 biggest drivers for creating psychological safety within organisations. These are based on our analysis across thousands of people and numerous organisations. The number 1 driver is leadership behaviours, number 2 is how inclusive the culture is, and number 3 comes down to manager behaviours.

What leadership behaviours have the greatest positive impact?

Our data shows that leaders who demonstrate psychological skills including empathy, authenticity and active listening have the greatest impact on psychological safety. The most significant leadership behaviours are whether they're perceived to be:

1. Interested in and actively listen to suggestions from all levels,
2. Open and honest in their communication, and
3. Supportive and compassionate in their communication and interactions with others.

Interestingly, our data also supports that when these leadership behaviours exist at senior levels, they do indeed ripple downwards through the lower levels of the organisation. For instance, when leaders are perceived to be supportive and compassionate, line managers are 15% more likely to also be perceived in this way.

In terms of the positive impact of these 3 leadership behaviours that we see across the wider employee population, not only do we see improvements in psychological safety; people are 19% more able to share their honest thoughts with their colleagues and 18% more able to share ideas openly, we also see this leads to heightened workplace satisfaction (+20%), team collaboration (+23%), and sense of belonging to the organisation (+23%).

1. Measure what matters. Data is the biggest behaviour change tool in an organisations’ arsenal so ensuring your team has robust data on the variables their trying to shift is crucial. Getting really clear on what your definition of success is, is foundational to measuring impact. Once this clarity is achieved, you can then go on to reward and recognise shifts in the right direction.
2. C-Suite sponsorship. Role modelling starts at the top and is statistically more powerful the higher you go. When leaders at the highest level endorse and actively participate, it sends a powerful signal to the entire organisation, emphasising the importance and priority of the initiative. Getting active sponsorship ensures that change efforts are aligned with the overall business strategy and serves as a driving force for creating a culture of adaptability, innovation, and continuous improvement within the organisation.
3. Build leadership skills. Equip leaders with the tools to cultivate psychological safety. Provide training on empathetic and supportive communication, active listening, and trust-building. Foster a culture of authentic leadership that supports openness and inclusivity. Recognise and reward leaders who exemplify these behaviours, reinforcing their importance in driving positive change.