Psychological Safety Is Critical: Why Performance Depends on Trust

Psychological safety has moved from being a niche concept to a core leadership requirement, and rightly so. All over the world today my audiences ask me about this as a critical concept to business performance and profit. The change has been fast in the last three years and now this concept is widely being embraced. 

I start all my masterclasses by saying that I believe it is impossible to sustain performance in workplaces without it. After all, if you don’t understand people, how will you ever make them feel safe? When people do not feel safe to speak, question, or contribute openly, performance suffers. If people are self censoring they aren’t communicating, collaborating or innovating. 

So what is it? Psychological safety is the shared belief that it is safe to take interpersonal risks, to speak up or to share feedback. This includes admitting mistakes, asking for help, and challenging ideas. Without this safety, employees often default to silence, compliance, or avoidance. These behaviours may appear functional in the short term, but they limit learning, innovation, and accountability.

Empathy is foundational to psychological safety. Empathetic leadership signals that people will be treated with respect even when they disagree or struggle. This understanding reduces fear and allows people to engage honestly. When leaders respond with curiosity rather than criticism, trust grows and performance follows.

Listening-Led Leadership plays a central role in building safety. Leaders who listen attentively demonstrate that input is valued, not punished. This encourages dialogue and helps teams surface issues early, before they escalate into larger problems. Listening creates clarity, and clarity supports confidence.

Neuroscience explains why psychological safety is so closely linked to performance. When people feel unsafe, the brain prioritises self protection over problem solving. This narrows thinking and reduces cognitive flexibility. In contrast, safe environments activate areas of the brain associated with learning, creativity, and collaboration, all of which are essential for high performance.

I have seen organisations focus heavily on outcomes while ignoring the conditions required to achieve them. Without psychological safety, targets may be met temporarily through pressure, but the cost is often burnout, disengagement, and turnover. Safety allows people to sustain effort without compromising wellbeing.

Psychological safety also strengthens accountability. When people feel safe to admit mistakes, learning accelerates and repeated errors decrease. Blame cultures hide problems. Safe cultures address them. This honesty improves both quality and efficiency over time.

Importantly, psychological safety does not mean avoiding difficult conversations. It means having them in ways that preserve dignity and respect. Leaders who balance challenge with empathy create environments where high standards coexist with trust.

Psychological safety is no longer optional for organisations that want to compete effectively. It is a performance enabler, a retention strategy, and a foundation for innovation. When leaders invest in empathy and listening, psychological safety follows - the two are entirely intertwined. So now you know where to start, but will you?

About Mimi Nicklin:
Mimi Nicklin is a globally recognised keynote speaker, bestselling author, and Founder of Empathy Everywhere, working with organisations worldwide through leadership development, training, keynotes, masterclasses, and webinars. Recognised as the #1 Workplace Wellbeing leader, Mimi has reached over four million people globally through her work in empathetic leadership, listening, and Listening-Led Leadership, helping organisations strengthen employee engagement, workplace culture, and performance in complex, AI driven environments. Her work reframes empathy as a critical leadership capability grounded in neuroscience and applied through practical empathy training and organisational development. With a mission to reconnect one million people by 2028, Mimi Nicklin is emerging as one of the defining human leadership voices of this decade. Find out more via www.empathyeverywhere.co or [email protected]