Leaders: Are you creating a culture of safety or silence?

At a global security firm I worked for, one leader constantly preached about “psychological safety.”

“The most important job of a leader is to create a psychologically safe environment where team members can thrive.”

She repeated this in one-on-ones, team meetings, presentations—anytime she had the mic.

According to her, this meant people could show up as their true selves, speak freely, and challenge ideas.

But in reality, the environment was anything but safe.

When Ideas Are Welcome—Sort Of

In one meeting with her and two other leaders, she posed a question:

“Should we recognize individuals who do great work, or should we focus on celebrating the team?”

“Why not both?” I chimed in. “Spotlighting individual accomplishments makes people feel valued. It can encourage others to step up. We can recognize them privately or publicly.”

She nodded as if considering what I’d said—then dismissed it entirely.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good approach. I want to focus on celebrating the team, not individuals. Spotlighting someone could make others feel bad or discourage them from contributing.”

I wondered why she had bothered to ask.

At our next team meeting, she doubled down, presenting a slide deck on the dangers of 'outshining others' in the workplace. She tried to convince everyone that being a star puts a target on your back, that cohesive teams don’t have outliers, and that true collaboration meant blending in rather than standing out.

I caught a glimpse of a high-performer across the room—her shoulders dropped a bit.

It made me think of Kobe Bryant—may he rest in peace. Imagine if he’d been told to dim his light for the sake of the team.

This wasn’t about psychological safety. It was about conformity.

Training for the Wrong Problem

Months later, I was tasked with leading a training initiative to upskill more than 15,000 supervisors.

But before jumping in, I wanted to make sure we were solving the right problem.

I mapped out a detailed project plan, which included:

• Conducting focus groups with supervisors to determine their greatest challenges
• Assessing what (if any) training they’d already received
• Identifying what high-performing supervisors were doing differently

Given our small team and limited budget, I estimated we’d need eight to ten months to do it properly.

But my leader shut it down immediately.

“We don’t have that kind of time. I already committed to finishing this in four months. We can repurpose the trainings we already have.”

No discovery. No intent to measure impact. Just a rush to check a box.

The Illusion of Safety

Despite all the talk about psychological safety, it became clear that what my leader really valued was compliance.

She welcomed input—as long as it aligned with her agenda. Anything outside of that? Dismissed.

Others felt it too. In meetings, she’d deflect tough questions with a polite, “Let’s take that offline.” Soon after, she stopped inviting those employees to meetings altogether.

She had a way of making it known: Pushback wasn’t welcome.

I both admired and felt sorry for her.

She was new to the organization and likely under pressure to deliver results that had already been dictated from the top. As a woman, she had to walk a fine line—appearing approachable while enforcing her authority.

So, she preached about creating a psychologically safe environment because it sounded good.

But what she actually created was organizational silence.

Shhh... The Cost of Silence

Organizational silence isn’t just a problem—it’s a slow poison.

When employees stop sharing ideas or concerns, leaders lose visibility into what’s really happening.

And when problems go unspoken, they don’t disappear. Sometimes they fester and grow into bigger problems that are difficult to fix.

Hard Knocks: When Silence Becomes Catastrophic

In 1986, NASA was set to launch the space shuttle Challenger from Kennedy Space Center.

There was just one problem.

NASA engineers knew about a fatal design flaw in the shuttle’s O-rings. They recommended delaying the launch. But NASA’s leadership ignored their concerns because they feared delays would damage public trust and funding.

Seventy-three seconds after liftoff, the Challenger exploded, killing all seven crew members.

A different kind of silence fueled the 2008 mortgage crisis.

Remember when interest rates were so low that everybody and their mama could get a loan? Banks were handing out mortgages with little to no scrutiny, and people rushed to buy homes they couldn’t actually afford.

Bank employees, financial analysts, and even regulators saw the warning signs—but they stayed quiet.

And then it all came crashing down.

Dr. Hanif Nu’Man’s book, Parasitic Silence: Lessons Learned from the American Mortgage Industry, explores how ignoring internal warnings led to one of the most devastating financial crises in modern history.

Hear Them Out

No industry is immune to organizational silence.

Wherever risk exists, fear of speaking up follows.

• In banking and finance, profit-driven cultures discourage conversations about long-term risks.
• In healthcare, doctors and nurses hesitate to report mistakes for fear of malpractice lawsuits.
• In government and law enforcement, whistleblowers face retaliation, threats, or career sabotage—a hard truth we’re seeing play out right now.

I get that as a leader, being challenged is hard.

You’re trying to execute a strategic vision while keeping the C-suite happy. But your team may have insights you don’t.

Think of leadership like flying a plane.

As the pilot, you control the aircraft, but your air traffic controllers have a broader perspective of the unseen risks ahead. Ignoring them doesn’t just create turbulence—it puts lives at risk.

Great pilots and great leaders don’t just lead from the cockpit. They listen to those who see what they can’t.

How to Break the Cycle

Organizational silence isn’t the problem—it’s a symptom. And at its core, it signals a lack of psychological safety.

Great leaders don’t just talk about openness—they ask, listen, and act on the insights of those in the trenches. They know that the best ideas don’t always come from the top, and the truth isn’t always comfortable.

If you truly want to build psychological safety, you have to walk the talk.

That means:

• Listening to hard feedback—without shutting it down
• Encouraging dissent—not punishing it
• Admitting when you don’t have all the answers

It won’t just make you a better leader—it will bring you peace of mind.

Because leadership isn’t about knowing it all.

It’s about creating an environment where the best ideas rise to the surface.

And that starts with listening.

What kind of leader do you want to be?