A few months ago, I received feedback from the vice principal at my school that I wasn’t prepared for. This colleague that I manage told me that during a recent meeting I moderated, my tone made them feel psychologically unsafe. Hearing their words and descriptions of their experiences at the conference left me stunned, confused, and disappointed in myself. I’ve been thinking about it. Did I make someone feel psychologically unsafe? But how? ”
My job as principal is to ensure the physical and psychological safety of all staff and students in my charge. This includes her leadership team of 10 principals who guide and manage teachers. For me, this responsibility goes beyond the job description. The safety of the school community I love is deeply embedded in my purpose. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I took this job, because I believed in creating the exact environment where everyone felt safe.
But I didn’t—at least not that day. And when this colleague bravely spoke up, it helped me rethink how I work to keep our employees safe beyond the physical.
When I remembered the meeting my colleague described, I remembered how difficult that day had been. I must admit, I did not lead the meeting with my usual warmth. I was thinking about a lot of things, and looking back on it now, I was really nervous. Earlier that day, I received an email from the school district informing me that my school had the lowest completion average on the reading exam at the beginning of the year. I was a little confused as I was struggling with my feelings about being “on the bottom” and wanted some clarification right away, but this co-worker was able to help me assess what was going on. I had plans for further evaluation and thought this colleague would be able to provide it. At the same time, a faculty colleague in this department abruptly resigned, leaving mid-year staffing challenges that needed immediate resolution. I felt overwhelmed, so I asked a lot of questions in quick succession, but in my quest for answers, my own internal performance pressures caused me to ignore my colleague’s need to feel supported. It’s gone.
When she opened up and told me how that meeting made her feel, I learned that she left the meeting feeling interrogated, disempowered, and turned off. I did. She read me as cold and curt rather than direct and efficient. On the contrary, she closed her mind to protect her own sense of well-being. Unbeknownst to me, she had built a wall that only she could break down. One of my teammates was injured, so it was my job as her leader to fix it.
What should I do? How can I recover? How can I rebuild trust between myself, that person, and my team? As I reflected on our encounter, these questions played on a loop in my head like a Barclays ribbon display screen.
First I had to motivate myself. I felt so bad thinking that I had made someone feel uncomfortable or uncomfortable. I wasn’t in a good place. I lost confidence, started questioning my suitability for the job, and started creating a narrative about how I was viewed as a leader. He’s so fake. He doesn’t really focus on stock investing. Look at the culture he created. I was beginning to believe these things.
What helped me center myself again was a little thing I learned during my time as a recruiter. “There are no perfect candidates.” In this case, there is no such thing as a perfect leader or a perfect team. This meant that my imperfections and failures were actually opportunities for me and my team to become stronger. But the stakes were high and I didn’t have the luxury of time.
Why is it important to create conditions for psychological safety in schools?
I first learned about the concept of psychological safety during the height of the pandemic. I was a teacher at the time and had transitioned to remote instruction. During training, a social worker used this term, which led me to learn more about it.
Just started unpacking this concept Additionally, we learned that true psychological safety exists when organizational conditions allow for interpersonal risk.In such an environment, team members Normalize errors, have open communication, and welcome healthy discussion and debate. This sense of safety also contributes to a culture of freedom and autonomy, which can motivate individuals and teams. Do your absolute best and ultimately lead to commitment. This is important for our school. Because as we expand to serve more students across our communities, we need to think of innovative ways to retain teachers as we literally scale to new heights.
I understood the concept, but what was holding me back?
In my case, I was so worried about the challenge at hand that I failed to consider the needs of my colleagues who were experiencing that challenge right next to me. I wonder how much effort she put into getting her 70 percent of students tested in one day, or how her teacher’s retirement affected her and her team. Neither did I. And I didn’t think about how dynamics related to role, race, and gender would affect my interactions with teammates. I wish I had it.
As we researched the literature on what leaders can do to provide psychological safety in the workplace, we found that the key factors are: Recognize and account for the wide range of life experiences and perspectives within the group. It helped me understand that I need to be more intentional about how I occupy space with my team and how we occupy space together.
make a plan to repair the damage
There is rich resources Provide guidance for team members and leaders who have compromised psychological safety in the workplace. But few provide guidance to leaders like me who have the opportunity to recover after a breach of psychological safety occurs and before irreparable damage is done. So I turned to the formula I use to solve any problem. It’s about collecting data, extracting trends, and planning for action and accountability.
To collect data, I began meeting more frequently with my team, especially the vice principals I supervise. This meant setting aside a sacred space for each person each week and fostering an environment where each person always felt seen, heard, and valued. When we met, I simplified their deliverables so I could spend more time listening to what they were experiencing.
listen to colleagues actively and consciously This has given me greater awareness, information and insight into how they think, while also increasing my empathy and sense of belonging. These one-on-one conversations were invaluable in understanding the individuals I manage, allowing me to see their humanity and learn more about myself, leadership, and my own blind spots. .
Interestingly, the inspiration for this essay came from a recent one-on-one with a vice principal in which I unintentionally hurt. When she gave me permission to share this story, she also provided candid insight into her experience with me. As she opened up to me, I felt the walls I had built between us crumble. Instead, we were rebuilding connections.
To build these connections across the team and foster a safe and caring environment, I created more space to connect, discuss, and problem-solve individual challenges collaboratively. That became a core part of my action plan. To chart a path to re-establishing psychological safety for my team, I utilized the following: “First Team” concept — Developed by business management and organizational health expert and author Patrick Lencioni, which prioritizes a comprehensive and practical approach to problem solving. This framework prioritizes collective rather than siled decision-making, which made a big difference for our team.
By creating more space for low-pressure individual check-ins and focusing on team problem-solving and decision-making, we helped our entire team feel less isolated and helpless. The result is deeper collaboration and more knowledge sharing across departments and people.
Hearing that I had made a co-worker feel psychologically unsafe was a very unpleasant and difficult experience, but it exposed a significant mistake, sharpened my perspective on fairness, and kept our community safe. I’m very grateful for that because it expanded my capabilities. As a principal, I have the privilege of disrupting and disrupting patterns of inequality and inequality even after they have been perpetuated. Establishing and maintaining psychological safety in my team is not a destination, but a journey I need to undertake.
