A leader shares how receiving candid feedback from their team changed their approach to management. The talk focuses on creating psychological safety so people feel comfortable speaking up, which drives better collaboration and innovation.
The originators believed in something bigger. They believed that something was broke. When you have people that are thinking in this way, rowing in this way, doing this thing, it starts to build this key part of like trust and psychological safety inside of the humans that are working together. And you want teams that are not afraid to speak up, not afraid to share ideas, and maybe even challenge the status quo. When you have a foundation of trust, teams become these incredible spaces where innovation and creativity can thrive. And it all starts with creating an environment where people feel safe, valued and heard. Listen, I had a moment inside of my organization last week where I threw out an example of a new web page design that I thought that I oh, this is way better than what we're doing right now. I can't wait to show the team they lost their ish. They hated it. And I even brought up this conversation around, hey, what if I was to go into like a suit jacket instead of hat and hoodies? They lost their ever lasting mind. But here's the thing. Every single human gave me feedback and I sat there and quietly listened and I was so quiet they even started to apologize and I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, you guys are reading the room wrong. I don't need you to apologize, I need you to continue. Because I am listening and I am accepting. I'm absorbing what you're saying because it is going to be the fuel and the data that I will use to make future decisions. Because I know I want to make some changes, but I know I want to stick authentically to who we are showing up as a brand. I don't know how many leaders would not have been felt like they were getting the wet noodle whippings or been being attacked. But Chris, I sit here and tell you I was excited that they felt that they could openly share the feedback.
