Psychological Safety is a Strategy Issue, Not an HR Issue

TL;DR:

• The quality of strategy rises with the leader's curiosity.

• Psychological safety enables teams to explore uncertainty and make bold choices.

• Trust is the foundation of execution speed and adaptability.

• Leaders must model vulnerability and design safety into their systems.

Curiosity, Questions, and the Core of Strategy

There is a striking correlation in the strategy work I do.

The more open-ended and curious the leader's questions are, the higher the quality and the greater the enthusiasm for the strategy.

Let me explain.

Strategy is inherently uncertain and requires deep discussion about the choices the business must make without knowing which path will yield the best results.

Leadership team members bring unique perspectives from their experience and proximity to different parts of the organization and its customers. They share a common responsibility: to guide the organization toward success.

Leaders, like all humans, also need to feel they belong, that their contributions are valued, and that they have a future with the organization.

In the off-sites I design and facilitate, a predictable pattern emerges. 

If, in the opening conversations, the leader is curious and asks questions, the team's momentum builds. They extend their thinking, take risks with ideas, and challenge each other to move beyond the obvious.

Conversely, if the leader opens with direct statements that comment on or contradict discussion topics, even if technically correct, the team shuts down. They don't take risks, they don't challenge each other, and the outcomes are weaker.

The underlying issue for most teams is a lack of trust. Without trust, the leader's voice dominates and the team retreats.

Trust: The Foundation of Strategic Dialogue

Patrick Lencioni called trust the foundation of team performance. Without it, teams avoid healthy conflict, and strategy devolves into surface-level answers.

Rachel Botsman describes trust as a "trust leap" — the willingness to take a risk on someone else. Strategy work is precisely that: a collective leap into uncertainty, where no one has all the answers.

Amy Edmondson's research reinforces the point: high-performing teams don't avoid conflict; they feel safe enough to disagree, test ideas, and refine them openly. Leaders must set this expectation and practice restraint to sustain it.

What separates strong strategies from fragile ones is the ability to explore options fully, consciously choose, and then pivot with confidence when needed.

Vulnerability as a Leadership Signal

Many leaders don't intend to shut down conversations. But experience, expertise, and ego often lead them to believe authority comes from providing answers.

In strategy, the leader's role is not to prove they are right, but to create the conditions for the best answers to emerge. That requires vulnerability.

When a leader says, "I don't know — what do you think?" or "Tell me more…" they're not showing weakness. They're signalling that it's safe to contribute, challenge, and explore. That simple move often unlocks the best thinking in the room.

Making Psychological Safety a System

Psychological safety doesn't happen by accident; it is how great teams work. What are some simple strategies?

• Start strategy sessions with open-ended questions rather than statements.

• Use icebreakers or limiting-beliefs exercises to safely surface concerns.

• Ask short, curiosity-driven questions (the best ones start with "What" and are under five words).

• Reinforce candour — recognize or reward those who take the first risk to speak.

• Reframe or redirect statements that could shut down creative thinking.

  
  

When safety is designed into systems, strategy becomes dynamic and participatory rather than static and prescriptive.

I Am Guilty

When I led a business unit, we maintained a quarterly rhythm for our strategic conversations.

As we reviewed our Big Rocks, I made a harsh and direct comment regarding one of the team members' presentations. It wasn't up to standards, and there was an effort to gloss over the fact that the deliverable was not complete.

The problem was that my comment shut down that particular team member and the rest of the team. The remainder of the meeting was awkward, uncomfortable and totally ineffective.

It took several weeks to repair the damage to the team's trust.

Leadership Takeaways

• Trust is the foundation of team performance and strategic thinking.

• Psychological safety enables teams to engage with uncertainty and make bold choices.

• Leaders build safety by modelling vulnerability and curiosity.

• Execution speed improves when leaders focus on how the team works, not just what it delivers.

• Strategy quality rises or falls on the questions leaders ask.

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➡️ Practical step: In your next strategy conversation, resist the urge to weigh in with your perspective. Instead, open with: "What are the choices we haven't considered yet?" You'll be surprised what surfaces when trust creates space for better thinking.

➡️ Practical step: Need help remembering to ask questions? Create yourself a prompt. Put a "?" on a sticky note and attach it to your book; it will trigger you to engage System 2 (more on System 1 and 2 in a future newsletter) and actual sticky note I have attached to me monitor.

If you need help, you know how to reach me.