If No One Disagrees with You, Have You Shut Down Psychological Safety?

Do people in your team really feel safe to speak up, or do they just go with the flow, bury things they don’t feel safe raising or tell you what they think you want to hear?

As leaders many of us assume we’ve created a safe environment simply because our team seems engaged, gets their work done and are cooperative. But true psychological safety goes much deeper than surface-level agreement. It’s about whether people feel comfortable admitting mistakes, challenging ideas, and taking interpersonal risks, without fear of backlash, embarrassment, or consequences.

The other question is how do you know if psychological safety exists?  Is this just your perception or is it shared by those around you?

The tricky part is that a lack of psychological safety isn’t always marked by silence, it’s also about what isn’t being said. It’s the unspoken concerns, the hesitations, and the ideas left unshared. Just because no one is pushing back doesn’t mean there’s agreement; it could mean there are underlying fears or beliefs that make speaking up feel risky.

What Psychological Safety Really Means (And What It’s Not)

Psychological safety isn’t about making everyone feel comfortable all the time. It’s about creating an environment where people feel safe to be uncomfortable, to take risks, disagree, and admit when they don’t have the answers.

It’s not a free pass for poor performance or lack of accountability, just about being “nice” or avoiding conflict or a leadership perk, it exists at all levels of an organisation.

It is a key driver of innovation and learning, a leadership skill that requires active effort and essential for high-performing teams.  When you look at these things ask, can I afford not to have psychological safety in my team?

When it comes to our brain, psychological safety directly impacts how we function at work. When we feel unsafe, our brain shifts into threat mode, triggering the amygdala’s fight, flight or freeze response. This reduces our cognitive flexibility, shuts down problem-solving, and makes us more risk-averse. In contrast, when we feel psychologically safe, the prefrontal cortex stays engaged, allowing for better reasoning, collaboration, and creativity.  This is a much better place to operate from, and gets us and everyone around us better outcomes.

If you want a high-performing team, you need brains that are free to think, not stuck in self-protection mode.

How Do You Know If Your Team Feels Psychologically Safe?

Many leaders assume their team feels safe because no one has raised concerns. But silence isn’t proof of safety, it’s often a symptom of fear.

Do people hesitate before sharing ideas? Do they only speak up when they’re certain? Is there a pattern of avoiding tough conversations?
The level of psychological safety is not determined by us as the leader, its determined by each individual in your team and working environment.  How do you know?  Ask!  Instead of  asking “Do you feel psychologically safe?” (which few will answer honestly), try:

• “When was the last time you challenged an idea in a meeting?”
• “How comfortable do you feel admitting a mistake in our team?”
• “What would make it easier for you to share concerns or give feedback?”

How do people really react to failure? When mistakes happen, does your team focus on learning or finding blame? If people fear repercussions, they’ll stay silent rather than experiment and improve.

How You Can Actively Build Psychological Safety

Psychological safety isn’t a one-time initiative, it’s a leadership behaviour that needs to be reinforced daily. Here’s how:

Being OK Not Having All the Answers, If you always act like you know everything, your team will hesitate to admit when they don’t. When is the last time you admitted “I don’t have the full answer on this, what do you think?”

How do you respond to disagreement? Don’t just tolerate disagreement, invite it. Ask, “Who sees this differently?” or assign someone to play ‘devil’s advocate’ in meetings.

The moment someone takes a risk and gets shut down or receives a defensive reaction, psychological safety erodes. A sigh, a dismissive look, not responding directly, or cutting someone off can send subtle signals that certain voices or topics don’t matter. Be intentional about how you listen.

Your Leadership Challenge

Psychological safety doesn’t mean avoiding difficult conversations, it means being in the moment and creating an environment where those conversations can actually happen.

If you want a high-performing, innovative team, ask yourself: Am I leading in a way that frees my team to think, or making them compliant and afraid to speak?