Psychological Safety as a Cornerstone of Leadership – Why Trust and Appreciation Determine Team Success

Why do some teams dare to share unfinished ideas, openly admit mistakes, and challenge their leader’s views — while others are marked by cautious silence? The answer lies in psychological safety.

Psychological safety means an atmosphere where people feel they can take social risks without fear of embarrassment or negative consequences. Research shows it is one of the strongest predictors of team success (Edmondson, 1999; Google’s Project Aristotle, 2012).

From the perspective of Deep Leadership®, psychological safety is built above all on two cornerstones: trust and appreciation. These are not just virtues but concrete leadership tools that directly influence both team performance and well-being.

Ihminen voi hyvin kun psykologinen turvallisuus on korkea.

Trust – the foundation of safety

Trust grows out of small but consistent actions: keeping promises, sharing information openly, and explaining the reasons behind decisions. When employees see that leadership acts consistently, fear recedes and courage to be open increases.

Without trust, psychological safety cannot exist. If team members suspect their concerns will be dismissed or that they’ll pay the price for mistakes, they start to protect themselves — through silence, excessive caution, or withdrawal. This slows decision-making and stifles innovation.

Trust, on the other hand, releases energy. When a team knows mistakes will be treated as opportunities for learning, problems surface earlier and solutions are found faster.

Appreciation – the experience of being valued

Trust alone is not enough. Everyone also needs the experience that their contribution matters and that they are seen as a person, not just a role. That is the essence of appreciation.

Appreciation shows up in everyday actions: listening to team members’ opinions, recognizing successes, and offering genuine thanks. It also means meeting people as individuals — recognizing that each has their own strengths, limitations, and needs.

When people feel appreciated, they dare to put unfinished ideas on the table. Appreciation fuels courage, and courage strengthens the team’s creativity and learning capacity.

Trust + Appreciation = Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is not a mysterious state but the combined effect of two elements.

• Trust removes fear.

• Appreciation brings courage.

Together, they create an environment where people dare to experiment, fail, and learn. This is the foundation for continuous development and organizational resilience.

A practical example: a shift in team climate

In one Finnish expert organization, the team had long operated in a cautious culture. Meetings covered only safe topics, mistakes were hidden, and decision-making dragged on. 360 feedback in the Deep Lead Academy revealed that employees felt their opinions were not appreciated.

The team leader set out to change this. They consistently kept promises, shared information openly, and thanked team members even for small insights. They also made time in meetings for everyone’s voice to be heard and openly encouraged differing opinions.

Three months later, the situation was different. Meetings had become more dynamic, mistakes were raised earlier, and the team’s results improved. Psychological safety had begun to take root — built on trust and appreciation.

Conclusion

Psychological safety is not just a “soft” value but a source of hard competitive advantage. It determines how quickly a team learns, how boldly it innovates, and how strongly it commits to shared goals.

A leader’s most important task is to create an atmosphere where trust and appreciation guide daily interactions. When these two cornerstones are in place, psychological safety emerges — making the team more than the sum of its parts.

👉 Deep Lead Academy provides the research-based Deep Leadership® model and practical tools to strengthen trust and appreciation — and to turn psychological safety into your team’s competitive edge.