It is vital to establish psychological safety up front and create a culture where it is clear that the supervisor is there to support Team Members in growing and developing. The type of error impacts how a leader responds.
| Type of Failure | Leadership Response |
| Learning failure (new territory, good intent) | Ensure Lesson Learned Fully, Shared Widely |
| Execution failure (known process not followed) | Coach + Reinforce Norms/Standards/Accountability |
| Judgment failure (poor decision with available info) | Review Decision Path/Logic: “Walk me through how the decision was made.” |
| Values failure (negligence, concealment, recklessness) | Consequences required |
Psychological safety without Accountability = Mediocrity
Accountability without Safety = Fear, Blame/Shame, Tension/Stress, Reduced Productivity
Together = Trust, Transparency, Superior Performance
(Above based on Amy Edmondson’s The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. 2018, Wiley, and James Reason’s Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents. 1997, Ashgate)
Mistakes should be seen mainly as data, not verdicts on someone’s value as a human being; leaders focus on responsibility and ownership, not seeing mistakes as moral failings. A leader’s mission is not so much to eradicate mistakes (mishaps happen AND Team Members need to know it is ok to take intelligent, calculated risks) but rather the objective to create a culture where errors are:
1) Uncovered Quickly
2) Owned Fully
3) Lessons Learned and Shared
4) Rarely Repeated
Emotional safety at work is NOT about lowering standards. Rather it’s about creating a culture where Team Members meet high standards as a result of sharing and learning from mistakes.
Closing Quotes:
“We can hold people accountable without shaming or blaming. Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” – Brene Brown, Dare to Lead
“Organizations rarely learn from failure because they do not know how to discuss it without threat or embarrassment.” – Chris Argyris, 1923-2013, Overcoming Organizational Defenses: Facilitating Organizational Learning
“When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable — if there are no consequences — that poor performance becomes the new standard. Therefore, leaders must enforce standards.” – Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier
Note: Every effort has been made to properly source any 3rd person material. I am, however, a voracious reader. If anyone finds any unattributed material, pls let me know asap and I will be delighted to give credit where credit is due.
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832
