Mental Health Awareness Week is over!
But you would be mistaken in thinking that the challenge has gone away. As we transition out of strict lockdown, we are noticing that the reported anxiety levels in many of our client organisations are increasing. Anxiety and creative agility don’t mix well!
Sure, you may have done some great things in the last nine weeks to look after your staff, but where do you go from here? People are facing an uncertain future and if there’s one thing that stresses people, it’s ambiguity.
You probably can’t offer much certainty but what you can do is try and create a climate of maximum psychological safety.
What’s psychological safety? In the words of a Harvard professor, Amy Edmondson:
“Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.”
As business psychologists and psychotherapists, it’s our assertion that it’s the organisations that place psychological safety at the heart of their culture that will emerge from the post-COVID world in the best shape.
So, what’s needed?
- Permission for your people to learn, try and sometimes fail
- A climate where talking about tough issues is welcomed
- A culture of true diversity
- Intelligent and managed risk taking
- Amazing listening skills, shown daily by your leaders
- High challenge, high support and high standards
- A big dose of humility
- A prevailing mindset of curiosity and creativity
In other words, an organisation that is a fitting place for a 21st century human to work in. Anything less is not enough.
Get in touch here if you’d like to know how we can help you and your people develop. There’s nothing above that is unachievable.
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