A presentation about Psychological Safety through the lens of a Chief of Staff

1. Psychological Safety & the
chief of staff role

2. Hi, I’m Richard
@mcleanonline

3. Contents
• Introduction to Psychological Safety – what it is, what it isn’t
• The importance of Psychological Safety in three different contexts:
1. You and your principal
2. In your principal’s team, and
3. Throughout your organisation
• How to improve Psychological Safety in each of those three contexts
• Q&A and discussion

4. “A belief that one will not be
punished or humiliated for
speaking up with ideas,
questions, concerns, or mistakes.”
Amy Edmondson
Harvard Business School Professor
Introduction:
Psychological Safety is…
When you have Psychological Safety…

6. We don’t want to look… So we…
Ignorant Don’t ask questions
Incompetent Don’t admit weakness or mistakes
Intrusive Don’t offer ideas
Negative Don’t critique the status quo

7. Psychological Safety matters
Companies with high PS perform better
on almost all KPIs/metrics.
Individuals on teams with high PS:
• Have an inclusive culture and
individuals are less likely to leave
• Feel safe to speak up, to offer ideas,
and ask questions
• Are more likely to harness the
power of diverse ideas from their
teammates
* Research from Harvard, Microsoft, and Google
7

8. Psychological safety is not
about being nice
It’s about building a human high-performance culture

9. There is no trade off between psychological
safety and accountability

10. CARE
PERSONALLY
CHALLENGE
DIRECTLY
Risk: manipulative insincerity
Risk: ruinous sympathy
Risk: obnoxious aggression
Overlay:
Kim Scott,
‘Radical Candor’

11. Contents
• Introduction to Psychological Safety – what it is, what it isn’t
• The importance of Psychological Safety in three different contexts:
1. You and your principal
2. In your principal’s team, and
3. Throughout your organisation
• How to improve Psychological Safety in each of those three contexts
• Q&A and discussion

12. As a chief of staff, it’s essential for your job
• Administrator — make the trains run on time
• Gate keeper — protect the leader’s time, taking unnecessary
conversations off their plate and leading cross-cutting projects
below their level
• Counsellor — act as a close confidant, providing a sounding
board and a critical ear, offering advice across a host of issues
and speaking truth to power
• Implementer — drive priorities to successful completion
• Proxy—communicate and act in the leader’s place.
Source = McKinsey: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YryuXZuFRpyLFVLdBm9n-ip5teOtlWGA/view
For other frameworks, see: https://medium.com/chiefofstaffnetwork/do-you-want-to-know-about-the-chief-of-staff-role-cf9ec201908a

13. Yet it might not be easy with your principal
So what can you do?

14. Be vulnerable
http://danielcoyle.com/2017/10/03/the-most-important-four-words-a-leader-can-say/
https://www.iansanders.com/blog/2021/6/22/how-the-vulnerability-loop-can-help-you-build-trust-at-work
One thing you can do:

15. Contents
• Introduction to Psychological Safety – what it is, what it isn’t
• The importance of Psychological Safety in three different contexts:
1. You and your principal
2. In your principal’s team, and
3. Throughout your organisation
• How to improve Psychological Safety in each of those three contexts
• Q&A and discussion

17. 17

18. How well do you know your team?
And how well do your team know you?

19. • https://ttg-
wp.s3.amazonaws.com/content/downl
oad/personal-histories-exercise
• https://www.sixkeysgroup.com/post/7-
team-building-activities-to-help-climb-
the-lencioni-trust-pyramid

20. It is possible to transform the level of
Psychological Safety in a team
“I am proud of the significant
improvement in how safe the team
feels after our focus on the topic.
Improvement is doable and
achievable; if you get the feedback.”
20

21. Contents
• Introduction to Psychological Safety – what it is, what it isn’t
• The importance of Psychological Safety in three different contexts:
1. You and your principal
2. In your principal’s team, and
3. Throughout your organisation
• How to improve Psychological Safety in each of those three contexts
• Q&A and discussion

23. On the flip side…
Research undertaken by Harvard, Microsoft and Google shows that
organisations with a higher level of psychological safety perform better
on almost any metric or KPI.
• eg Hospitals improve infection control by increasing psychological safety.
Individuals on teams with higher psychological safety:
• Have an inclusive culture and individuals are less likely to leave
• Feel safe to speak up, to offer ideas, and to ask questions
• Are more likely to harness the power of diverse ideas from their teammates
• Self-correct more often when members were less concerned about consequences of making a
mistake.

24. PS across your organisation
https://mcleanonline.medium.com/building-psychological-safety-c46844cb918

25. How to measure it
Ask team members how strongly they agree or disagree with these 7
statements:
1.If I make a mistake in this team, it is held against me.
2.Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.
3.People on this team sometimes reject others for being different.
4.It is safe to take a risk in this team.
5.It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.
6.No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my
efforts.
7.Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are
valued and utilized.
https://mcleanonline.medium.com/measuring-psychological-safety-81dd1da91915

26. How to build it
• Officevibe recommends a "A Manager’s Cheat Sheet to Building a
Psychologically Safe Team“
• Of course psychological safety, but how? Company methods/tools
/practices curated by John Cutler
• Practical advice on Psychological Safety: High Performing Team
prerequisite (Stefano Mastrogiacomo)
• https://www.leaderfactor.com/the-4-stages-behavioral-guide

27. Questions?