Psychological safety—the shared belief that team members can take interpersonal risks without fear of negative consequences—is essential for genuine inclusion beyond diversity statistics. Unlike superficial wellness initiatives, it creates structural trust enabling employees to contribute authentically, take risks, and perform optimally. Organizations must shift responsibility from individual resilience to building psychologically secure work systems through inclusive leadership, constructive error management, and equitable dialogue practices.
Recently, a new and persuasive language has emerged in the corporate world. People are talking about wellbeing, mindfulness and work-life balance. Some forward-thinking companies offer yoga classes, gym memberships, meditation apps and bowls of fresh fruit. These are undoubtedly commendable intentions. However, these initiatives sometimes seem like sticking plasters for deep wounds, as they only address the symptom — individual stress — without ever stopping to reflect on the disease of the system itself.
What if the problem is not our inability to manage stress, but a work environment that systematically generates it? What if the real challenge is not learning to ‘breathe’ better during a toxic meeting, but creating meetings where everyone can breathe freely?
We need to change our perspective and shift the focus from individual well-being to the collective health of our work system. We need to address something much deeper and more structural than fruit: psychological safety. This is a concept that, as we will discover, is not a luxury reserved for the few, but rather an essential foundation for building a truly inclusive culture.
What psychological safety is (and isn’t)
First of all, let’s clear up any misunderstandings.
Psychological safety does not mean being kind or ‘nice’ all the time, nor does it mean creating a fictitious environment where conflicts, criticism, or uncomfortable conversations are ignored. In fact, it is exactly the opposite! It is about creating the ideal conditions for addressing even the most difficult discussions in a constructive and productive way.
It is not an excuse to lower standards or a license to avoid responsibility. Psychological safety is essential because it enables people to strive for excellence, safe in the knowledge that failure will not be judged, but rather viewed as an opportunity to learn and grow. This creates an environment in which everyone can perform to the best of their ability without fear of criticism.
Another wellness initiative? You can’t build everything in a one-hour workshop. It’s a deeper social construct that emerges when a group collaborates and comes together. It’s not just a skill that develops at the individual level.
So, what are we talking about? The best-known definition comes from Harvard professor Amy Edmondson, who describes it as ‘the shared belief among team members that the environment is safe for taking interpersonal risks’. In other words, it is the sense of trust that enables us to open up and express ourselves without fear of judgement.
Let’s analyze this sentence. The key word here is ‘interpersonal risk’. Every day at work, we face dozens of micro-moments of risk.
· Asking a question that might seem ‘stupid’.
· Admitting that we don’t know something or that we’ve made a mistake.
· Proposing a bizarre or unconventional idea.
· Expressing respectful dissent to a superior or the majority.
In an environment where psychological safety is unstable, it’s better to remain silent. The potential consequences (such as humiliation, being labelled incompetent, being sidelined or penalised in one’s career) are simply too high. However, in a psychologically safe environment, people feel free to take these risks without fear of punishment or embarrassment. It’s like having the freedom to be completely yourself — vulnerable and authentic — all united in pursuit of a common goal.
The sociological lens—an invisible social infrastructure
Psychological safety is a social construct, not something you bring from home. It is the result of the interactions, norms, and power dynamics that characterize a group. We can see it as the invisible infrastructure that supports (or, conversely, undermines) all forms of collaboration.
Consider this: every team and every company is like a small society with its own unwritten rules, rituals and hierarchies. Psychological safety is built or destroyed in those everyday micro-moments we experience together.
· Error management: How do the leader and the group react when someone makes a mistake? Do they rush to find the culprit, or do they sit down together to understand what can be learnt from the situation? The former teaches everyone to hide their mistakes, while the latter encourages them to share and grow together.
· Conversation rituals: During a meeting, who is interrupted most often? Who has their ideas ignored, or worse, hears them repeated shortly afterwards by someone else who takes the credit? These are not isolated incidents; they reveal patterns that show who really has the ‘right to speak’ and who does not.
· Leadership as a role model: A leader who has the courage to publicly admit, “I don’t have the answer. What do you think?” or “I was wrong. I should have done it differently” is demonstrating true power. Rather than trying to prove their invulnerability, they are turning vulnerability into a safe space for all. This creates an environment in which everyone feels free to express their opinions and learn together.
These elements give rise to a real ‘culture’ that people experience every day. In this context, psychological safety ceases to be an abstract concept and becomes an essential bridge to inclusion.
The bridge to inclusion—because diversity without security is just a statistic
Companies around the world are investing heavily in diversity initiatives. They are hiring people from different backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, abilities and sexual orientations. This is a noble and strategic approach: as we discussed in relation to the business case, having different perspectives can lead to more innovative solutions and a deeper understanding of the market.
However, there is a problem: diversity alone is not enough. It’s a bit like throwing a big party and inviting people from all over the world, but then only playing music that the host likes and serving food that only he eats, while expecting everyone to enjoy themselves.
Diversity is like being invited to the party. Inclusion, on the other hand, is being invited to dance. And what about psychological safety? It’s feeling free to choose the music, dance even if you’re clumsy, or say ‘I don’t like this song’ without fear of being shown the door.
Without psychological safety, a diverse workplace risks becoming a place where everyone feels equally uncomfortable. And why should that happen?
· The ‘cognitive toll’ of insecurity: For individuals belonging to historically underrepresented groups, the risk of feeling uneasy during social interactions is heightened. The fear of confirming a negative stereotype is ever-present. Consider, for example, a woman working in a team of male engineers. She may hesitate to ask a technical question for fear of being perceived as incompetent. Similarly, a person of color might think twice before challenging an idea for fear of being labelled ‘aggressive’. This constant self-monitoring and emotional and verbal ‘code-switching’ requires enormous mental effort. It’s as if we are expending precious energy that could be devoted to creativity, problem solving and collaboration instead.
· Conformity as a survival strategy: In an unsafe environment, the most sensible strategy for survival is often to blend in. People begin to hide their unique perspective — the very vision they were hired for — and align themselves with the dominant way of thinking. The company chose to hire diverse people precisely to have different points of view, yet ends up creating a system that pushes them to behave like everyone else. The result? A sad loss of potential. Diversity becomes just a superficial embellishment and a statistic to be included in the annual report with no real impact.
· Real issues are ignored: Inclusion is not just about innovative ideas; it is also about highlighting problems. Often, it is those on the margins who first notice cracks in the system, unconscious biases and microaggressions. If they do not feel comfortable speaking up, these issues remain hidden until they eventually come to a head. Psychological safety is the vital channel that enables critical feedback, even when it is uncomfortable, to come to the fore and be heard.
It is like the operating system that runs the applications of diversity and inclusion. Without a solid foundation, any attempt to promote inclusion is likely to fail.
Well-being initiatives are like the flowers we plant in the company garden: they are beautiful and colorful, and they are much appreciated. However, psychological safety is the soil in which they grow. Without it, even the most beautiful flowers will fail to take root and quickly wither.
Building psychological safety is neither an easy nor a quick task. It is an ongoing process that requires the constant commitment of everyone, especially those in positions of power, and is a bit like caring for the soil. This involves celebrating curiosity, rewarding vulnerability, managing conflict constructively and, above all, listening.
This represents a fundamental paradigm shift. Rather than encouraging employees to be more ‘resilient’, the responsibility lies with the organization to become more ‘secure’. Ultimately, every leader and company should ask themselves not ‘Are our employees strong enough to survive here?’, but ‘Is our work environment worthy of their talent, humanity and vulnerability?’ The answer to this question will affect not only their future, but ours as well.