Photo: Aleksandra Boguslawska on Unsplash
World Mental Health Day (WHO) Sunday October 10th.
Being in relationship with…psychological safety
The highest performing persons and teams are characterized by psychological safety, meaning not being afraid of making mistakes, or being afraid to ask “stupid” (there are none) questions, or sticking your neck out. On the contrary, these kinds of behaviors lead to more breakthroughs, increased creativity, and innovation.
The less reactive the environment, the more positive emotions are possible to attain; such as curiosity, confidence, trust, and inspiration. Positive emotions allow for complex problem-solving, and collaborative relationships.
We become more open-minded, resilient, motivated, and persistent when we feel safe. Humor increases too, as does solution-finding and divergent-thinking – the cognitive processes underlying creativity.
My own experience:
Here´s the thing – I have experienced the consequences of not feeling psychologically safe, both from growing up in a family that appeared picture perfect – but was not, and the cost of having to detangle from complex post traumatic stress disorder all my life. A very costly business.
The harm I have been caused, and have caused on others before I realized everything hinged on this, is worth a post because if the world becomes more informed and committed to providing psychological safety for all in every situation – emotional suffering could lessen considerably. As a consequence productivity and thriveability would soar!
What does psychological safety mean in your life?
Happy World Mental Health Day!
#psychologicalsafety #relationshipcoaching #worldmentalhealthday2021