The Leadership Vision Podcast
The Leadership Vision Podcast is about helping people better understand who they are as a leader. Our consulting firm has spent 25 years investing in teams so that people are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Our podcast provides information to help you develop as a leader, build a positive team culture, and grow your organization to match the demands of today’s business landscape. We leverage client experience, research-based leadership models, and reflective conversations to explore personal growth and leadership topics. With over 350,000 downloads from 180+ countries, our podcast shares our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture.
The Leadership Vision Podcast
Enhancing Team Dynamics Through Trust and Psychological Safety
In this episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast, we discuss the concepts of trust and psychological safety and their impact on team innovation and resilience. The discussion explores core ideas, practical steps, and actionable strategies for fostering an environment where team members feel safe to share ideas without fear of negative consequences. The conversation also touches on the role of Strengths in team dynamics and how leaders and team members can build trust and improve communication and collaboration. Listeners will gain valuable insights and real-world examples to implement these concepts within their teams to build a positive, high-performing team culture.
- 01:15 Defining Trust and Psychological Safety
- 02:25 First Steps to Building Trust
- 05:04 The Role of Strengths in Team Dynamics
- 18:07 Practical Tips for Team Leaders
- 20:16 Practical Tips for Team Members
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The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Contact us to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.
When team members trust one another and feel safe to share ideas, even bold or unconventional ones, without fear of negative consequences, the entire team becomes more innovative and resilient. Today on the podcast, we'll be discussing the steps teams can take to build this trust and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves. So how can we build greater trust within our teams, and what does psychological safety really look like in action? Well, today, dr Linda and Brian Schubring and I will be exploring practical ways to improve team trust and psychological safety and share some actionable takeaways that you can implement on your own teams. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and you are listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this work for the past 25 years, so the leaders are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Good morning, linda and Brian. Good morning, good morning or I guess it's afternoon for you, but it's still.
Speaker 2:You know, whatever time of day, people are listening to this podcast. It's evening for me, nathan. It's evening for you.
Speaker 1:It's almost Brian's bedtime, it's yeah.
Speaker 2:I want to start.
Speaker 1:The sun is still up. Let's just get right into this here today. I want to start by talking about some of the core concepts around trust and psychological safety, which is a little bit of a buzzwords these days. Trust allows team members to really rely on one another. We all know that Psychological safety is about creating space for people to share ideas without, you know, fear of like getting in trouble or getting their hands slapped or, you know, maybe having a bad idea that doesn't work out. Brian, I want you to start here by just maybe, just give us your, off the top of your head, thoughts on trust, on psychological safety, and why are those two big ideas so crucial for high performing teams?
Speaker 3:well, what I think is crucial to these words trust and psychological safety is that they seem to be like these business buzzwords right now that people just seem to really gravitate towards, and whenever you have language like that, we want to somehow incorporate that and weave it into our conversation. The conversation is already happening and people are looking for places where they feel a sense of belonging, where they feel a sense of being known, and two elements that really contribute to that sense of belonging and being known is trust and psychological safety.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that. Brian and Linda, what do you think from your vast experience working on a lot of different teams? What are some of the first steps teams can take to begin thinking about these ideas, implementing these ideas or just creating a foundation for trust and psychological safety?
Speaker 2:Well, rarely do we go straight at it. So I would say, when people start to throw around the language of psychological safety, trust what they're saying is there's something not right, there's something that is preventing me from speaking up, there is something that I'm detecting that it is not okay to share how I feel or share what I'm thinking as a result of you know like maybe I'll be typecast some way or my job might be threatened, and so a lot of times we like to get, get beneath the language, just like we do with strengths. Let's get beneath the language, let's try to understand. All right, what is psychological safety actually mean when Brian was talking about belonging? All right, what does psychological safety actually mean when Brian was talking about belonging?
Speaker 2:That's often what we're looking for. Usually, if roles aren't clear, if there's bad communication, if people are just unwilling to be vulnerable or the team just is really not connected, we find that someone just throws out these terms to wave a flag, which then we start to get to the bottom and we put some of the themes together and start to realize, okay, this is what we're actually working with. We're working with meaning, we're addressing behavior. That's not okay.
Speaker 3:Because trust and psychological safety not surprisingly, it can be seen, it's something that you can feel, it's something that you can hear. Hey, we were with a client last week where you could just tell like there's a trust among each other, there's a psychological safety there. When people were walking into the room, they're like embracing each other, they're giving fist bumps, they sit close to each other, they talk to each other, they look people in the eye, so there's a way that people interact that demonstrates, hey, I feel like I'm trusted and I feel that I can express my opinion. And so, with that type of awareness, we can really rely on the knowledge base we have of teams that do trust and have psychological safety, and that really informs how it is that we can help those that are struggling with it, whether they know it or not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's getting a sense, first like, is there trust, is there psychological safety, or what am I really asking for or longing for, and then begin to detect it in how people, as Brian said, behave, how they treat each other and how they even treat themselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Linda, you mentioned strengths a minute ago and I want to kind of bring that idea in because I think sometimes, you know, one of the key components of building trust on a team is understanding like who's who, what's what. How do we appreciate and understand differences when team members, you know, know their strengths, know what their strengths aren't, you know? I think maybe there's some more trust building that can happen, some more psychological safety that can happen, some more you know, communication, collaboration, all the C words that we like to throw around. Brian, I'm curious, you know we often get this question from clients like how do I use strengths to build and I'm setting you up a little bit here to build a stronger, more trusting team?
Speaker 3:And so how do we use strengths to do that, Brian or?
Speaker 1:how does it play?
Speaker 2:into this conversation. I actually don't use strengths at all to determine that.
Speaker 3:So that's something that like.
Speaker 2:What A lesson from the legend. A twist.
Speaker 3:I don't use it.
Speaker 1:Why Tell us? Why Tell us all the reasons why? Because that's contrary to a lot of people think. A lot of people think is the first step.
Speaker 3:As much as we use the tool of strengths to inform how we can help teams and help individuals. That's not the first thing that we're walking into an environment with. We're walking into an environment where we are trying to detect and observe. What are those unique characteristics about that team which demonstrates, or doesn't, this idea of do we trust one another and do I feel like I have a place where I'm seen, where I'm heard and where I'm understood? And so the idea of strengths, I think, is intentionally used. I think that sometimes I use strengths as an intentional distraction to kind of have people relax from what some of the real tensions are or the opportunities are within the team. But I'm clearly observing the behaviors, the emotions, the thoughts, the expressed values that are happening when a team gathers together to help me really understand what's going on.
Speaker 1:Hmm, linda, do you think that there are? So we do use strengths. It's just not like the first thing, linda, do you think that you know when we get those results back are there, and we could talk about this for a long time. But misunderstandings or under or overvaluation on certain strengths and how they might. You know, leader looks at a strength, like, oh, you have this strength, therefore you're going to do this, like maybe just throw out I don't know. A couple examples that might be helpful for people as they're trying to figure out how do we incorporate strengths into this, if at all.
Speaker 2:Yesterday or yesterday.
Speaker 3:It's been so many.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so many days.
Speaker 1:You guys have been busy.
Speaker 2:We worked with about a hundred people in four different organizations last week and so a lot of these questions, nathan are just are fresh in our mind, because people, first of all they feel like their strengths sometimes are misrepresented or misunderstood in themselves. So people new to the StrengthsFinder tool will say things like well, that's, I don't think that's me and I don't like that word, and we watch often a wrestling with that person, and so sometimes someone just needs a companion of sorts to be like okay, let's just, let's continue to unpack this, let's unfold it a little bit more. And so one of the ways would just be wrestle with some of that self-awareness. On the other end of the spectrum are people that are this is so me, I can't believe it.
Speaker 2:Finally, and this is why it's so great and so at both ends, that's really important. When a leader or even a team member is expecting strengths to be the answer, that's sometimes a red flag for us, where we say like, oh okay, well, what is it about the behaviors that you're liking? You're noticing the brightness, but is it this strength, or is it just how this person shows up, how they're wired, how they contribute as a team member to building a positive team culture?
Speaker 3:It's interesting, nathan, because, as Linda was sharing, I just noted that the title of this segment is the role of strengths and team dynamics, and the idea that a team has gone through pre-work, where they've taken some type of evaluative tool, is a sign that we are about to enter into some type of self-development and team development that is intended to happen and that anticipation is something that we really do lean into, because people are expecting that there will be some challenges and some reflection, and that really helps accelerate the process of the work that we do to build positive team culture.
Speaker 2:Sometimes the misunderstandings, if I may add, sometimes the misunderstandings lie in the place where the speed of the behavior, of strength is surprising or feels counterintuitive, like, oh, I thought that would take you longer to answer, or wow, that was a quick response.
Speaker 2:And so sometimes there's surprise that comes out and then people feel like, oh, am I not supposed to be so quick, or am I supposed to be more quiet about it?
Speaker 2:Or is it okay that I extrovert some of these components and so a lot of it is just getting into. What is the feel, what is the flow of conversation, what do people's voices sound like? One of the engagements that we did last week we're not doing strengths with this group for another month, and but we were there to get them excited about the whole process and one of the things that we saw and one of the things that we heard was this sense of like, what are you going to tell me who I am? And we will always say and it is always like we will we'll tell them, like no, you'll tell us, you describe it for us, you put your spin on it, you, um, uh, look at your life, uh, observe how you interact with others, how you get work done, um, and speak back, speak back to us. And so when people feel like they have, uh, more power, or they feel empowered to contribute then, then I think the conversation begins to change and then strengths actually does become the tool that can knit a group closer together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to maybe shift gears a little bit or just continue this line of thinking, questioning, you know, talk a little bit about collaboration and communication. I think that you know one of the ideas the big ideas of psychological safety is just kind of being okay with being you and expressing ideas without fear of retribution or everyone being like that's a stupid idea, you're a stupid person, you should be fired, like whatever that is. And I'm wondering if we could talk a little bit more about how does strengths and just even that knowledge play more into that. So, Linda, I wonder if you can keep talking a little bit more about, maybe even with more specificity is how do strengths foster more effective collaboration? How do the knowledge of strengths not that you're using it as this end-all, be-all tool, but what are some practical things? I think we have a couple discussion questions that we use that maybe team leaders can use, or something just to help people really enhance that collaborative experience on a team.
Speaker 2:To answer your question, Nathan, there are often strengths that we have, and when I say strengths now I'm talking about CliftonStrengths strengths. There are strengths that we have that if we didn't have those, we would be a different person. Um, and so some. Sometimes the ways that we build trust are to be the most most authentic version of yourself. So, if you have a strategic, strategic thinking strengths, maybe there are a variety of ways that you ask questions or you are prodding thinking or you're tapping into the logical minds of your people.
Speaker 2:Maybe if there's relating strengths or influencing themes of strength, that that really points to, oh, that points to this human component, or how they build relationships, or how they're trying to impact or influence people, and so that when people are operating in their, their authentic self, that's where we find that. That that is the door, doorway into collaboration. It's the doorway into um, a better understanding of communication. Now, oftentimes, if someone has strengths that the whole group does not share, that sometimes is like nails on the chalkboard If even kids even know what or people even know what.
Speaker 1:that sounds like anymore. What's a chalkboard?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like that awful, that awful noise where it's like that, that doesn't ring, that doesn't ring true, and part of it is just it's not familiar, and so oftentimes we will solicit the voice of people that have strengths that aren't shared by the rest of the team to build the kind of understanding that helps teams improve both their communication and collaboration.
Speaker 1:Brian, I have a feeling you have a different take on this. Maybe not different, but just something additional to say that might be counterintuitive.
Speaker 3:One of the things that I may want to add is that when we are asked to help teams improve their collaboration and their styles of communication, one of the things we like to remind people of is that collaboration and communication is happening as an extension of someone's personality.
Speaker 3:It's happening between people, it's happening in relationship, and sometimes I believe that one of the unique ways that we can apply strengths to improving collaboration and communication is not by helping, as I said, not by helping people understand their strengths better, but to help people understand how they're being perceived.
Speaker 3:And if we can use the language of strengths to help people understand how they're being perceived, we sometimes see that that's a very beneficial practice because, as we all know, strengths work in pairs and when two strengths come together, they can be perceived as a completely different strength. So oftentimes ask people, maybe apply the language of strengths to ask what does it feel like to collaborate with that person? What strength would best define that? And just let someone just kind of go at it like oh, that they really feel like they're trying to create a sense of harmony when they're collaborating. And sometimes that is really an interesting way of using the language of strengths to describe what's happening between people, because that's what we're feeling and that's what we're reacting to. Is that interactions? Again, I'm not diminishing the importance of using a tool like strengths to help people understand who they are, but the extension and expression of who we are is oftentimes misperceived.
Speaker 2:There's a client we've been working with for over a decade and they are steeped in strength. So they've heard all the different angles and we've worked with so many of members of the organization that have come and gone and the leaders really understand strengths. Well, one of the things that we'll say too is like, which strengths feels really loud right now? Maybe loud and like you're not being heard. So you know what strength you need to turn down just a bit so that you can be more well-received, and a lot of times it is just okay well, what's getting loud or what's getting quiet or what have you turned off or what do you need to re-engage again? And so that's why I say it goes back to the radical self-acceptance to say if I'm acting out of who I am and I'm being a contributing team member, that will contribute to building a more trusting and safe team culture.
Speaker 1:So just to, I guess, briefly summarize that it's less about memorizing all these strengths, definitions and you know the 34 different ways that each one can show up, and more about our own personal interpretation, sort of Like you can't say that ideation is about sitting and having a blank expression in your mind. That's not what ideation is, but how does that look like? What does that look like for me? How am I showing up in a group, in this group, in that group, in a separate group, with my family, my coworkers, and so that's almost more important than, like you said, just kind of that rote memorization. But before we wrap up here, I'm wondering if we can kind of give our listeners just something very concrete and tangible, tangible tang, tangible just tangible.
Speaker 3:Some, some hooks. It's one tangible.
Speaker 2:It's odd tang.
Speaker 3:It's odd tang.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of tangents that go on sometimes, but this is a tangible, concrete something. It is uh like something that will will help them or that they could do today, maybe right when they're done. You know, listening to this podcast, linda, I want to start with you what's one actionable step that a team leader, a team leader now can take this week or, like I said, even today, just to start fostering this idea of greater trust on a team, greater psychological safety, communication, collaboration? What's something practical that we can send people with?
Speaker 2:Here's a practical tip that I actually gave a team leader about about a month ago this should be good he was a new leader to the team, had been an individual contributor for many, many years now as a team leader. He, he just I'm trying, I'm gonna try to be a good leader this year. And I said make a 10-minute meeting with all of your reports which happened to be like five or six, so it wasn't a big lift but ask them, what are a couple ways that he could help them this year, like how could he be a good leader to help them this year? And I said but do your homework. Like think in advance by how you would individually um lead them.
Speaker 2:Or you know that this person needs a lot of structure and you know that this person needs some fun and you know that this person needs to see things get accomplished. And if you recognize that, um, you know how does it go. So all of a sudden, you're, you're, you're doing a 10 minute investment. You probably spend maybe 15 minutes just putting your thoughts together and getting ready, um and building that kind of connection. We found where a leader is being helpful out of who they are, but also being very aware of the needs of followers. We found that that, um, yeah, that that challenge is is really important.
Speaker 1:That's good.
Speaker 2:If this person is listening, I wonder how it went. Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1:Good answer. That's a very good answer. So, Brian, I want to ask you the basically the same question, but I want the focus to be on team members. So what's an actionable step that a team member can go do today, this week, that can help build greater trust with their colleagues, create psychological safety, which leads to communication, better communication, better collaboration, etc.
Speaker 3:Well, one of the things I would ask individuals is this question what do you need? What do you need to be trusted or what do you need to trust other people? And also this question when have you felt the most psychologically safe? And by psychologically safe I mean when have you been on a team, or when was there a time when you felt seen, you felt heard and understood? When was there a time when you felt like you could express your opinion, give ideas, contribute creatively, when you weren't under any risk of shame or guilt or criticism or judgment, where you just feel like the life that you had to contribute just generated more life? When we can identify and begin to name some of those places and what it looked, felt and sounded like, then we can better name what we need from a team where we really want to feel psychologically safe.
Speaker 3:I was just working with a team earlier today and it was a team that was so driven towards answers and driving towards a goal that they kind of lost sight of what psychological safety was being diminished as they're pursuing a goal. My point is we all have needs to feel safe and to feel like we belong somewhere, and it's always a good practice to ask ourselves what do I need to feel, seen, heard and understood, and what is it that I need to really feel like I'm a contributing member, without any type of criticism or judgment?
Speaker 2:That's good, that's good, because I would add to the need of. Then what can you give?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:What can you give? What do I need? What can I give? That's good, yeah. What do I?
Speaker 1:need. What can I give? That's good.
Speaker 2:Yeah. What do I need? What can I give? We know we don't always get our needs met and we know that sometimes the things that we offer or things that we have to give aren't always what other people need.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:But getting in that mindset. So I'm thinking of people that maybe aren't on a team but their work somehow impacts someone else, or they're a part of a organization or a family structure or something where they have some things to give. When you get in touch with what you have to share, to give away, you might have this indicator of maybe you're in a strength zone, right, that one of those strengths is being generatively applied for the sake of others, and so so I think it boils down to this psychological safety and trust begins with you, right. Begins with you, your attitude, your perspective, not waiting for other people to to do it for you but, to to lean into that.
Speaker 3:I love my psychological safety started with you. Oh, maybe Okay.
Speaker 1:No, but I love that because that idea of like, what can I control, what can I not control? And if you're constantly focused on the things you can't control, you will always be unhappy. So, brian and Linda, thank you so much. I really appreciate this conversation.
Speaker 3:As always. Thank you, nathan, that was really fun. This is so great. Thank you, listeners. Yes, we will do it again.
Speaker 1:And thank you, listeners, for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast. Today we talked about the importance of building trust and psychological safety in teams and how strengths play into that, which is maybe a little bit different than you thought. How it can enhance your collaboration and communication, and I just want to leave you this reminder that this is a long process. There's no one kind of quick fix to this, but if you try some of these things that Brian and Linda shared with us to implement today, it'll be a good first step in the right direction. So be sure to check the links in the show notes for more resources on team engagement and strengths-based leadership, and if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, share with someone that you think might benefit from these ideas. I'm Nathan Friberg, I'm Linda Schubring, I'm Brian Schubring and, on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.