Enhancing Creativity Through Emotional Collaboration

In a world where most leaders focus on individual performance, collective psychological context determines what's truly possible. According to Deloitte's 2024 study, organizations with psychologically safe environments see 41% higher innovation and 38% better talent retention. Here are three ways you can leverage psychological safety for extraordinary team results: 👉 Create "failure celebration" rituals. Publicly acknowledging mistakes transforms the risk psychology of your entire team. Design structured processes that recognize learning from setbacks as a core organizational strength. 👉 Implement "idea equality" protocols. Separate concept evaluation from originator status to unleash true perspective diversity. Create discussion frameworks where every voice has equal weight, regardless of hierarchical position. 👉 Practice "curiosity responses”. Replace judgment with genuine inquiry when challenges arise. Build neural safety by responding with questions that explore understanding before concluding. Neuroscience confirms this approach works: psychologically safe environments trigger oxytocin release, enhancing trust, creativity, and collaborative problem-solving at a neurological level. Your team's exceptional performance isn't built on individual brilliance—it emerges from an environment where collective intelligence naturally flourishes. Coaching can help; let's chat. Follow Joshua Miller #workplace #performance #coachingtips

Misunderstandings happen more often than they should. Why? Because we often forget a key principle in communication: UNDERSTAND OTHERS BEFORE SEEKING TO BE UNDERSTOOD. This simple change can transform our interactions, leading to stronger relationships, better collaboration, and the ability to tap into diverse perspectives. When we feel truly heard and understood at work, we're more likely to do our best and share our unique insights. If this idea is so important, why don’t we use it more often? Here are a few reasons: (a) Time Pressure: In an environment where our calendars look like heavily-stacked pancakes, we're focused on meeting deadlines and getting results. This urgency can lead us to make quick decisions instead of taking the time to listen and understand. (b) Ego and Self-Interest: We often prioritize our own opinions, driven by the need to prove our competence or authority. This focus on advancing our own agendas can make us overlook the value of understanding others. (c) Lack of Awareness or Skills: Many people aren't aware of their listening habits or how their communication style impacts others. Plus, active listening and empathy are skills that require practice and intention. (d) Emotional Barriers: Stress, anxiety, or frustration can create barriers to understanding. When overwhelmed by these emotions, it can be hard to empathize with others or listen effectively. (e) Cognitive Biases: Biases like confirmation bias can prevent us from considering other viewpoints objectively, making understanding difficult. Here's the good news! We can overcome these barriers and build better habits. Here are three tips to do just that: 1.    Practice Active Listening: Truly listen to others without thinking about your response. Focus on what is being said, ask questions, and reflect on the information to gain deeper insights. 2.    Ask Questions to Understand: Instead of assuming you know what others are thinking, ask open-ended questions to invite them to share their thoughts and feelings. This encourages a deeper understanding of their perspectives and builds trust. 3.    Encourage Open Dialogue: Create spaces where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Be vulnerable. Encourage diverse perspectives and value each person's contribution. By seeking to understand first, we strengthen collaboration and ensure everyone feels valued and motivated to do their best. #understanding #relationships #collaboration #energy #humanbehavior #workplace #leadership #teamwork #skills #listening #empathy #dialogue

Early in my career, I worked with two very different leaders within the same company. Under the first, team meetings were silent affairs where new ideas were often met with criticism. We stopped contributing. When I moved teams, my new manager actively encouraged input and acknowledged every suggestion, even the imperfect ones. Our productivity and innovation skyrocketed. This experience taught me the power of psychological safety. That feeling that you won't be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, or concerns. Here are three concrete ways leaders can foster psychological safety in meetings: 1. Practice "Yes, and..." thinking. Replace "That won't work because..." with "Yes, and we could address that challenge by..." This simple language shift acknowledges contributions while building on ideas rather than shutting them down. 2. Create equal airtime. Actively notice who's speaking and who isn't. Try techniques like round-robin input or asking quieter team members directly: "Alyzah, we haven't heard your perspective yet. What are your thoughts?" 3. Normalize vulnerability by modeling it. Share your own mistakes and what you learned. When leaders say "I was wrong" or "I don't know, let's figure it out together," it gives everyone permission to be imperfect. AA✨ #PsychologicalSafety #InclusiveLeadership #WorkplaceBelonging

If people hold back their real opinions, you miss what could make you better. If no one challenges your thinking, your ideas stop evolving. In these cases, you need confident humility. I know, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron. but hear me out... Asking for feedback, advice, and new perspectives from a place of confidence can improve your work, sharpen your judgment, and help you grow. This is especially important in complex, uncertain and diverse environments where people bring different expertise, lived experiences, and communication styles. In these situations, having openness to look for feedback and advice is what allows your good thinking and work to get better. You are looking for input from others because you want greater understanding. When this is combined with confidence in what you do know, it makes you more CREDIBLE and respected because you show commitment and a willingness to dig deeper. 🔎 A simple habit to build this skill: - Ask for input, early, consistently, and from a place of confidence in wanting to learn more (not insecurity). - Ask authentically and specifically, around what you would benefit from knowing. For example “Given your knowledge of ABC, what’s something I could have approached differently?” or “I have deep knowledge of A but not B, what might I be missing in how I framed that for B?” When practiced regularly, this habit improves your performance and reshapes how others experience working with you. Professionals who lead with this type of confident humility tend to: ✅ Surface better ideas through collaboration ✅ Reduce defensiveness in high-stakes conversations ✅ Strengthen trust, especially across lines of difference ✅ Adapt more quickly in unfamiliar or shifting contexts In a world where no one sees the full picture alone, humility keeps you learning when it matters most. #Humility, #Feedback, #ProfessionalGrowth, #Collaboration, #SoftSkills, #ContextualAgility Skiilify

Most leaders think high-performing teams are built on talent. That’s only half true. Amy Edmondson’s research shows the best teams aren’t the smartest. They’re the safest. Psychological safety is what makes people speak up, share ideas, and learn faster together. Without it, even the most talented team stays quiet. Here are 5 ways to build psychological safety (and a stronger team): 1/ Invite Voices → Ask for ideas and questions. → Show that every voice matters. 2/ Respond with Respect → Thank people for speaking up. → Even if you don’t agree, you acknowledge the input. 3/ Normalize Mistakes → Shift from blame to learning. → Mistakes are lessons, not failures. 4/ Model Curiosity → Leaders go first: ask, explore, admit what you don’t know. → Curiosity makes team learning the norm. 5/ Celebrate Candor → Call out and appreciate honest feedback. → Courage grows when candor is rewarded. High performance isn’t about fear or pressure. It’s about safety, trust, and the freedom to learn together. Which one will you practice with your team this week? ------ ♻️ Repost to help more teams grow together. 👋 I’m Will - here to help you lead better, grow people, and build real trust at work. Follow for more.

Think of psychological safety as the collective emotional intelligence of a group. Have you ever seen a team full of individuals with low EQ who maintain high psychological safety? Probably not. 👤 EQ: Improves your individual ability to interact effectively. 👥 Psychological Safety: Improves your team's ability to interact effectively. Let's start with EQ: We improve our emotional intelligence when we learn to interact more effectively. This includes improving our perception, our intent, and our skills in our interactions. The goal is to improve our delivery system to become more effective. But what about psychological safety? We increase the levels of psychological safety on our team when we increase the instances of rewarded vulnerability in our interactions. The goal is to increase inclusion, learning, contribution, and candor within our team. Recognizing that psychological safety is the collective EQ of a group has been a crucial “aha moment” for many of our L&D and HR clients. Can you see how the two work together? ⭐ Building individual self- and social awareness helps a team identify acts of vulnerability as they interact. ⭐ Monitoring and improving self- and social regard motivates teams to validate their colleagues' unique workplace vulnerabilities. ⭐ Improving the skills that team members have to interact effectively gives them better tools to reward the vulnerabilities of others. This relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological safety is the anatomy of culture in an organization. Both should be at the foundation of all development efforts. An organization that cannot recognize the relationship between psychological safety and emotional intelligence will struggle to (1) Gather cultural data that can be used tactically, (2) target the root cause of cultural distress, and (3) program meaningful, effective intervention.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 Creating a culture innovation and change is a simple formula, but is not simple to cultivate. It requires leadership. 1. All innovation and change is brought about by teamwork and collaboration. 2. And teams and collaboration are brought about by communication. 3. Communication requires psychological safety and trust between managers and colleagues. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩. Communication is usually top-down rather than bottom-up, sideways, and top-down. 4. To create communication between people in all directions, the culture and leaders must promote empathic listening skills. Empathic listening goes beyond hearing the other person and feeling what they mean--sensing what they are trying to convey--rather than judging and rejecting. 5. To get beyond and transcend judgment, we must become vulnerable. Being vulnerable means surrendering our ego and being open to others' ideas. Becoming vulnerable requires Emotional Intelligence, specifically self-awareness. The ability to understand who we are and what we tend to do based on our beliefs. It is recognizing our weaknesses and blind spots caused by our biases and our need to look good to others and have all the answers where there are none. When we all can self-reflect as individuals and see we are the cause of our environment and what we are getting, we begin to see the possibilities of what can be. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞? 10 RULE BREAKING NORMS: 1. Look at what you defend. 2. Watch for where you stop and hesitate. 3. Look for when you feel insecure and want to say something to "look good." 4. Watch for when you judge something or someone as good or bad and right and wrong. 5. Listen without judgment. Observe without labeling. 6. Instead of persuading, be persuaded. 7. Allow communication to flow rather than try to control. 8. Use brainstorming and an outside facilitators for change and innovation 9. Create an idea lab. Consider all possibilities. 10. Blow up old protective rules of managing others, such as having all the answers and controlling, and allowing people to "own" their results. In my consulting with clients, they institute these "10 Rule Breaking Norms" to bring about change and innovation. It's remarkable to see how quickly people "buy into" the new ways of interacting to develop breakthrough ideas and solutions. Your partner in success, Joe Murphy ♻️ Cool to forward to your network ________________ THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒔 Over 600 worldwide sessions | Over 45,000 attendees | 4.9/5 Sat Score _________________ 📽 New videos daily, Mon-Fri at 5 PM ET, on success and leadership 🔔 Join over 40,000 over-achievers today #LeadersatAllLevels #Xfactor #TheLeadershipAcademy Infographic: Nature of work

Creating Teams Where People Actually Speak Up Want your best team members to share their real thoughts? Most don't. The Four Seasons hotel chain discovered why. Every morning, managers share what went wrong yesterday. No blame. Just solutions. Their "Glitch Report" meetings transform errors into wins. As their CEO says, "What's important isn't the error. It's the recovery." Here's how to build this psychological safety on your team: 1. Make failure acceptable. Leaders must fail first. Your team watches what you do, not what you say. Admit your mistakes before asking others to share theirs. 2. Ensure that all voices are heard. Try the speaking chip method. Give everyone five chips. Each comment costs one chip. When you're out, you listen. Suddenly, your quietest team members become your most valuable. 3. Make feedback safe. Create consequence-free critique sessions. People hold back honest feedback when they fear being blamed if their suggestion causes problems. Set clear expectations. "Your job is to point out problems, my job is to decide what to fix." After the session, the project owner makes decisions independently, protecting both the feedback giver and the creative vision. Psychological safety isn't just a workplace luxury—it's the difference between a team that merely performs and one that consistently breaks through to excellence.

Have you ever seen a band where every member starts playing a different song? That's because it doesn't happen. Even if the members aren't the best of friends off the stage They still trust one another to perform. This can be said about teams anywhere Although liking each member of your team is beneficial (And obviously, something we strive for) It's not entirely necessary - At least not as necessary as building trust and emotional intelligence (EQ). Let's start with the basics 👇 ✳  Why is Trust & EQ Essential? Communication ⇢ EQ leads to better understanding & (hopefully) fewer misunderstandings. ⇢ Trust promotes open communication, which helps to solve conflict & brainstorming. Collaboration ⇢ EQ increases empathy, which improves teamwork & cooperation. ⇢ Trust reduces the fear of being vulnerable. This increases overall support. Performance ⇢ EQ enhances interpersonal skills, which in turn boosts team efficiency. ⇢ Trust establishes a commitment to team goals by minimizing distractions. ✳  How Can You Build Trust & EQ within Your Team? Lead by Example ⇢ Display EQ and trust as a leader. YOU set the tone for your team. Encourage Open Communication ⇢ Utilize 1:1s and Team Meetings to encourage open discussions on important topics. Respect Feelings (And recognize them to begin with...) ⇢ LISTEN and show EMPATHY. Acknowledge your team's feelings. Provide Support & Feedback ⇢ Give your team constructive feedback in a way that reinforces trust. Create Team Experiences ⇢ Team building activities that are NOT work-related can do wonders for building trust. Take Accountability ⇢ When team members feel accountable to their peers, they are more likely to act in ways that will build trust. Be Reliable ⇢ Consistency in both your words and your actions will develop trust over time. By focusing on building, and maintaining, trust and EQ You're setting your team up to perform together. PS - How have you built or experienced trust-building within your team? --- 📣 I'm Angela, bringing you daily insights on marketing, tech, and leadership at 8 AM EST. If you like what you see, let’s connect or chat in the comments! #marketing

Psychological safety isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s the foundation of every high-performing team. But let’s be honest: Most teams don’t feel safe. Here’s what that looks like: — People stay silent in meetings — Mistakes are hidden, not discussed — New ideas are shared in DMs, not out loud — Feedback is rare — or sugar-coated That’s not a sign of weak people. It’s a sign of weak leadership. Here’s how to build real psychological safety: 1. Listen to understand, not respond — Focus fully on what’s said without interrupting — Pause thoughtfully before replying 2. Welcome different opinions — Ask: “How do you see this differently?” — Encourage curiosity, not dismissal 3. Normalize healthy disagreement — Say: “Disagreement helps us grow — let’s explore it” — Stay calm and curious, not defensive 4. Respond to mistakes with learning, not blame — Ask: “What’s the lesson here for all of us?” — Celebrate courage to try, even when it leads to mistakes 5. Be vulnerable first — Share your doubts openly — Say: “Here’s where I’m stuck — any ideas?” 6. Create emotional safety — Make it clear: “All feelings are valid here” — Notice and address emotional undercurrents early 7. Encourage open feedback — both ways — Ask: “What can I do differently to help you succeed?” — Show gratitude for honest feedback 8. Build and maintain trust — Be consistent, honest, and transparent — Say: “Here’s what I’m working on — let’s keep each other informed” 9. Praise publicly, correct privately — Recognize achievements openly — Use the “feedback sandwich” for tough conversations 10. Support autonomy and growth — Say: “Feel free to experiment and learn — I’m here to support you” — Trust your team to build confidence and growth You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be intentional. Because when people feel safe, they stop holding back — and start showing up. 🔁 Find this helpful? Repost for your network. 📌 Follow Natan Mohart for practical leadership insights.