Make People Feel Safe to Speak Up Even When They're Scared

Six agonizing seconds.

Sarah sat there, watching her colleagues nod enthusiastically at a strategy she knew was doomed.

After weeks of customer interviews telling a completely different story, she wanted to speak up. But the echo of being labeled "too negative" at her last job made her hesitate.

Then Kelly, her manager, noticed.

"Sarah, you've been talking to our customers. What are they telling us that we need to hear?"

That simple invitation to speak changed everything.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Two months later, their revised strategy broke every adoption record they had.

You know what gets me about this whole psychological safety thing?

We've got it all wrong when we say it's about being brave. Truth is, it's about trust. Plain and simple.

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Psychological safety is when the risk of speaking up feels lower
than the risk of staying silent.

When someone stays quiet in a meeting, it's rarely because they lack courage. It's because they've learned the hard way that speaking up comes with a price tag.

I've spent years watching teams do this dance - everyone nodding along, while the real insights stay buried.

The irony?

Those peaceful-looking teams, where everyone seems to agree? That's often where the biggest fires are smoldering.

And the most expensive mistakes?

They happen when someone swallows hard and keeps those customer insights to themselves, thinking it's safer that way.

These days, speaking up can feel like walking through quicksand.

Sinking Costume Quest GIF by Cartoon Hangover

Gif by cartoonhangover on Giphy

We're all squinting at Zoom/MS Teams squares trying to guess if that grimace means "bad idea" or "bad wifi."

Meanwhile, brilliant people stay quiet because nobody wants to be tagged as "the negative one."

So here’s my TRUST Framework (Because Safe Teams Win Together)

T - Thank the Messenger
R - Respond with Curiosity
U - Understand the Stakes
S - Show You're Listening
T - Take Action Visibly

Let’s get it.

rooting lets go GIF by Mental Samurai

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