You can make your small business (and your large business, as well) a scene of fear, terror, and scapegoating. You may well think that “whipping” employees and holding them accountable every minute would unleash their full potential. Well! That might actually work in the short term, given that your employees naturally lack any sense of creativity, innovation, responsibility, and a high level of integrity.
However, for other types of people, you would curb their creativity, kill their sense of innovation, and make them want nothing more than to pass their day peacefully in the toxic environment you created. This is why in some organizations it is extremely rare for someone to admit their mistakes. In others, it is equally rare for someone to say, “The credit shouldn’t go to me but to member X in the team I lead.” This positive attitude is an outcome of what’s known as “psychological safety.”
Team psychological safety can be defined as a belief or state of mind shared by a team’s members that it is okay to take risks, voice their thoughts, express their concerns, question authority, and admit mistakes—all without fear of negative consequences.
Psychological safety is a tenet of professional, productive teams led by self-confident and creative leaders, while scapegoating is common in corrupt organizations.
When you sit with a genius, innovative leader, chances are that you hear them making fun of themselves and their mistakes.
Making mistakes is often the price creative and innovative people pay, due to their willingness to experiment and learn.
In a team where psychological safety is present, you will see responsible, courageous, honest, problem-solving members. Meanwhile, in a team where scapegoating is the dominant culture, you will find dormant, unproductive members simply waiting for their workday to end quietly and safely.
How can you promote psychological safety? That's another topic!