Your guide to building trust through psychological safety

Whether it’s the backstabbing boardroom drama of Succession, the soul-sucking monotony of Office Space, or the cutthroat demands of The Devil Wears Prada, pop culture gives us no shortage of toxic workplaces. Sure, they’re exaggerated for entertainment, but for many people, they hit uncomfortably close to home.

Behind the dysfunction? Fear, ego, and a culture where speaking up feels dangerous. These fictional workplaces lack psychological safety.

In reality, employees are drawn to organizations characterized by trust, respect, and the freedom to show up as their whole selves – without fear of judgment or backlash. That’s the heart of psychological safety.

And this reflects a broader shift that’s underway. “The world of psychology and emotions has entered the workplace,” psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel told Fortune. “We talk about authenticity, psychological safety, and vulnerability in the same breath as we’re talking about performance indicators – and that is fascinating.”

In this article, you’ll learn what psychological safety looks like at work, why it’s essential for high-performing teams, and the steps you can take to start building it within your own team.

What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety, a concept pioneered by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, describes a workplace environment in which employees feel safe enough to take interpersonal risks. This includes speaking up with new ideas, admitting mistakes, being your authentic self, or challenging the status quo without fear of embarrassment or punishment.

Examples of psychological safety in the workplace

To help teams explore what psychological safety looks like in everyday interactions, Culture Amp partnered with Esther Perel to create Where Should We Begin? At Work, a conversation card game designed to spark honest dialogue about trust, belonging, recognition, and resilience.

One prompt from the game’s deck is intended to help managers better understand what trust looks like on their team and whether they’re fostering a psychologically safe culture: “I feel safe speaking up at work when…”

While we encourage you to pose this prompt to your own team, we had the pleasure of asking Anu Mandapati, Fractional Chief Culture & Talent Advisor at Qultured, to share her perspective. She explains:

“I feel safe speaking up at work when the people in the room lead with curiosity (not ego or title). Disagreement doesn’t mean disconnection. Leaders don’t just say they value transparency. They model it, even when it’s uncomfortable. Safety and trust aren't built by policies. They're built moment by moment through how we listen, how we respond, and how we repair when we miss the mark.”

While psychological safety may look different depending on who you ask, most definitions share common threads: trust, openness, mutual respect, and the freedom to show up authentically. If you want to understand what safety looks like for your team, consider using this prompt in your next 1-on-1, team meeting, or offsite. You might be surprised by what you learn.

Why is building psychological safety in the workplace important?

Because without it, your culture can get stuck. Psychological safety is the foundation that allows teams to grow, evolve, and perform better together. When employees feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be themselves, they’re more likely to stay engaged, feel connected, and succeed in their roles. Here’s what else psychological safety makes possible:

Stronger performance

Culture Amp data shows that strong relationships at work contribute to high performance, and psychological safety is a key ingredient that makes those relationships thrive. When employees feel valued by their managers, they are 74% more likely to earn a high performance rating in the next year. And when they feel like they have good relationships with their teammates, they are 39% more likely to be rated as high performers.

A sense of inclusion and belonging

Psychological safety fosters a culture of inclusion where people feel respected, accepted, and heard. When employees can show up as their authentic selves without fear of being judged or dismissed, they’re more likely to speak up, share ideas, and connect with their coworkers. In fact, when employees feel like they are truly part of a team, Culture Amp data finds they’re 31% more likely to sustain strong performance.

Innovation and risk-taking

Psychological safety gives employees the freedom to challenge ideas and experiment with new strategies and processes. That willingness to take risks drives creativity, collaboration, and bold innovation. And it’s not just about making an exception for one good idea here and there – it’s about creating a system that supports continuous risk-taking and sustained high performance over time.

Culture Amp found that employees who sustain high performance across multiple cycles are 83% favorable on the statement “I feel safe to take risks” – 9% higher than those who are only assigned a high performance rating once. The takeaway? If you want performance to last, invest in psychological safety.

Learning from failure

When taking risks, failure often comes with the territory, and so does progress. But when failure is punished – or even just quietly judged – people stop trying new things. They play it safe. Teams stagnate. Results suffer. Psychological safety encourages a growth mindset: Instead of fearing failure, teams learn from it, adapt, and improve together.

Improved employee well-being

When employees feel like they can’t speak up, share ideas, or be themselves at work, they expend mental energy masking who they are, which can lead to stress, disengagement, and burnout. Psychological safety removes that pressure. Instead of walking on eggshells, people can focus on doing meaningful work, collaborating, and contributing. As a manager, fostering this kind of environment isn’t just good for morale – it’s essential for sustainable performance and wellbeing.

Unique challenges to psychological safety in today’s workplace

“We are experiencing a trust crisis at work, with a significant decline in employees' willingness to share themselves in the workplace,” explains Dr. Arne Sjostrom, Regional Director, People Science at Culture Amp. According to Culture Amp data, this willingness to share has declined steadily since 2022 – and leaders may be part of the problem. In fact, only 38% of senior leaders at enterprise companies scored high enough to be included in our “trusted leader” category, earning strong marks for inspiring confidence, showing that people matter, communicating a clear vision, and keeping their teams informed. The rest fall short on the leadership behaviors that foster psychological safety.

If these trends continue, companies risk losing the very trust, collaboration, and innovation that drive high performance. Unfortunately, there are some considerable forces modern managers have to deal with to build psychological safety for their teams. Building psychological safety has always required intentional effort, but today’s workplaces add new layers of complexity, including:

• Remote and hybrid work models create physical distance that makes spontaneous conversations and informal check-ins harder to come by. When team members aren’t sharing the same space, it’s more challenging to read body language, pick up on subtle cues, and build the kind of trust and empathy that naturally develops through casual interactions.
• Global teams face additional hurdles. Cultural differences shape how people communicate, express disagreement, share feedback, and perceive hierarchy. What feels safe and normal in one culture may feel intimidating or inappropriate in another, requiring leaders to be mindful, open, and adaptable.
• Intergenerational differences also play a role. Employees from different age groups often have varying expectations about communication styles, feedback, and work-life boundaries. For example, some may prefer direct, frequent feedback while others favor more autonomy and flexibility.

All these factors show the value of building and sustaining psychological safety in today’s workplace. Leaders must develop new strategies that prioritize intentional connection, active listening, and cultural awareness. Creating safe spaces demands more than good intentions; it requires deliberate actions tailored to diverse, distributed teams.

Who is responsible for building psychological safety?

In short: everyone. Executives, senior leaders, managers, and employees all contribute to creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be themselves.

But managers have an outsized influence. More than anyone else, they shape the daily reality of their team. Through what they say – and just as importantly, what they do – managers set the tone for how safe, supported, and heard people feel at work.

“It’s critical for leaders to remember the powerful role they play in shaping the experience of their team members,” says Thaddeus Rada-Bayne, Lead People Scientist at Culture Amp. “The goals and expectations they set help establish team norms, and their willingness to role model key behaviors (such as asking for/providing feedback, and encouraging open dialogue about ideas and concerns), can create a psychologically safe environment that employees need to do the same.”

When managers actively build trust, invite input, and respond with empathy – even in moments of conflict or failure – their efforts create a ripple effect. A team’s level of psychological safety often mirrors the mindset and leadership style of the person leading it.

How can you build psychological safety for your team

There’s no step-by-step manual for building psychological safety on your team, but you can foster it through your actions as a manager. Here’s how:

1. Be open

Challenge the idea that “That’s just how we do things here.” Instead, encourage your team to question processes, give feedback, and suggest new ways of working. When they do, respond with transparency and curiosity. You might uncover inefficiencies, spark innovation, or simply make things better for everyone.

As Esther Perel told Fortune:

“The main thing we have control over is us. You can change, I think, at least pieces, sometimes small, sometimes much bigger, of a culture. You control your curiosity. You control the quality of your listening. The quality of your listening shapes the type of speaking that is going to come back.”

As a manager, your openness sends a powerful message to your teammates: It’s safe to speak up here. When your team sees that you're open to their questions and ideas, willing to have honest conversations, and committed to solving problems together, it builds trust – and sets the tone for everyone to do the same.

2. Model the behavior you want to see

Through your actions, you provide an example for your team. That means admitting when you’re unsure, owning up to mistakes, apologizing when necessary, and showing vulnerability. Psychological safety is built through everyday interactions. As a manager, your willingness to lead with openness, humility, and trust creates the foundation your team needs to thrive.

3. Create space for innovation

As a manager, it’s your responsibility to ensure every voice on your team is heard. Make space for diverse perspectives by calling on different people during meetings, not just the loudest or most confident individuals on your team.

Also, consider setting aside regular dedicated time for team brainstorms and individual creative exploration. Give employees the autonomy to approach their work in ways that play to their strengths, and encourage them to aim high, take risks, and pursue their ideas. When people feel trusted to follow their passions and use their talents, they can do their best (and most innovative) work.

4. Make time for connection

For many teams – especially remote or distributed ones – there’s little opportunity for organic conversation or personal connection. But making space for informal moments can strengthen relationships, build empathy, and create a stronger sense of belonging. As a manager, it’s your job to create that space.

Esther Perel sees storytelling as a powerful tool for connection. In virtual workplaces where spontaneous hallway chats and mentorship moments are limited, she encourages managers to bring storytelling into team meetings: “At least every few meetings, once a week, start with a question. Do five minutes of storytelling. It changes the entire meeting and changes the relationships.” A simple, thoughtful prompt at the start of a meeting (like “What did you get up to this weekend?” or “What’s on your summer bucketlist?”) can shift the dynamic from transactional to human, laying the foundation for trust and psychological safety.

5. Welcome mistakes

Mistakes are a natural part of growth – and we often learn more from them than from our successes. Just as you celebrate wins, make space to celebrate the lessons learned from setbacks. In 1-on-1s, team meetings, or department all-hands, invite employees to talk about tasks or projects that didn’t go as planned and what they took away from the experience. This kind of reflection helps normalize missteps as part of the process and encourages a growth mindset – where learning, not perfection, is the goal. When people feel safe to aim high and occasionally fall short, they’re more willing to take risks, push boundaries, and try again.

6. Ask your team what they need

The conditions that make someone feel psychologically safe vary from person to person. So how do you know what your team needs? Ask them.

Use the “I feel safe speaking up at work when…” prompt and others from the Where Should We Begin? At Work card game to invite employees to reflect and share what builds psychological safety and trust for them. This can inspire meaningful conversations that give you insight into what builds trust and connection on your team. All you have to do is listen, learn, and take action to incorporate this feedback into your leadership style, culture, and team practices.

Creating psychological safety with Culture Amp and Esther Perel

Psychological safety is foundational to thriving teams and high-performing organizations. Building it takes time, intention, and ongoing effort. But you don’t have to overhaul your culture overnight. Start small: Listen more closely, model openness, and create space for real connection. Tools like Culture Amp’s conversation card prompts – developed in collaboration with Esther Perel – can help you spark the kinds of conversations that lead to lasting trust.

Start building a stronger, safer team – one conversation at a time

Try the card game yourself