I was part of an internal leadership round table where part of the prep was this video and the discussion was around psychological safety. I first learned about this topic about 8 years ago at Wayfair where someone at the company took initiative to shepherd the philosophy throughout the department. 

I remember being really excited and interested in the idea of it. Which I believe in part because I related to both sides. The feelings when physiological safety is or isn’t present. I’ve felt both in my career. I was also part of both strong and weak sports growing up. I am always thinking of how to foster strong teams. 

The round table was awesome because I got a ton of tactical ideas that other leaders do to help foster psychological safety. One thing that stuck out to me is you need to try many things to help foster this and get feedback on what you try. Once you hit a healthy working state physiological safety balanced with accountability, it will feel like magic because it builds the trust needed for strong, fluid working relationships. Feedback will flow back and forth smoothly.

I have a deadline this week. I am trying to approach it with a different perspective this time around. Deadlines are generally a good thing. The deadline is helpful to force the creation of what needs to get done. The process from start to finish can be a lot of fun filled with growth and learning. 

Yesterday, I was outlining the deliverable and getting comfortable with the structure. It is a mix of writing and data pulling. Today, I plan to do a little of both to chisel away at this deadline. Each day, I’ll list out a few things to tackle in order to get closer to completion, do those things, and then do it over again the next day. A little chiseling each day and the final product is created.

Recently, I’ve been involved in a few feedback exchanges in different ways. The first was the more popular one where someone gave me direct feedback. The other, likely less popular, was someone who came to me as a manager with feedback about someone else. They were looking for help in working through some challenges with someone and how to improve on them. 

The thing I learned from these two situations is that action is important. Take action whether you get the feedback or have feedback to share. Don’t stay silent. In my first example, I acted on the feedback right away. This allowed me to be more effective and I also improved on how to do what was asked. In addition, I know what not to do for the future. It really was such a fruitful learning experience, and I felt added ownership.

For the second example, I think it is important to also take action on this and use a trusted person like a manager to help think through the concerns and how to work on them. This can be harder to do but it is such an effective way to hold people accountable to healthy two way relationships.   

Receive the feedback – take action. Concern about how a partnership is going, take action.