Creating a Culture of Psychological Safety: The Foundation of Coaching

If you're trying to build a strong coaching culture, there's something you can't skip—and that's psychological safety.

Without it, real coaching doesn’t happen. People play it safe. They keep their heads down. They nod in meetings but hold back their real thoughts. And that means ideas don’t get shared, feedback doesn’t get spoken, and learning doesn’t happen.

But here’s the thing: psychological safety is widely misunderstood. Leaders often want to create it, but the way it gets talked about can make it feel soft, vague, or even counterproductive.

So let’s clear a few things up.

What Psychological Safety Actually Means

Psychological safety doesn’t mean everyone agrees all the time. It doesn’t mean we avoid hard conversations. And it definitely doesn’t mean no one ever feels uncomfortable.

It means people feel safe to be real. To ask questions, admit mistakes, push back, and say what they really think—without fear of being dismissed, shamed, or sidelined.

It’s about candor, not comfort.

In fact, a psychologically safe team will sometimes have very uncomfortable conversations. That’s the point. Growth and learning almost always involve discomfort.

What It’s Not: 6 Common Myths

In a recent piece in Harvard Business Review, Amy Edmondson (the researcher who popularized the term) and Michaela Kerrissey break down six common myths about psychological safety. Here's a quick summary, with some of my own reflections:

1. “It means being nice.”

   → Being kind matters—but safety isn’t about avoiding conflict. It’s about being honest, even when it’s awkward.

   
   

2. “It means getting your way.”

   → No. Safety means people are heard, not necessarily that their ideas are adopted.

   
   

3. “It guarantees job security.”

   → Not quite. It means people can speak up—even in uncertain times.

   
   

4. “It lowers performance standards.”

   → Actually, teams that are both psychologically safe and held to high standards perform best. One without the other doesn’t work.

   
   

5. “It can be mandated.”

   → You can’t create safety by writing a policy or launching a training. You build it through consistent, trustworthy behavior.

   
   

6. “It starts at the top.”

   → Leaders have an outsized impact, yes. But safety is built locally—conversation by conversation, team by team.

How to Start Building It (Without Making It a Big Thing™)

You don’t need to overhaul your culture to build psychological safety. You just need to get intentional about how you show up and how you invite others to do the same.

Here are five ways to begin:

1. Talk about goals, not safety.

When teams are focused on something meaningful, they’re more likely to speak up. Instead of saying “we need to create psychological safety,” try asking, “What do our customers or clients need from us right now?”

2. Model the kind of openness you want to see.

Admit when you don’t know something. Ask for input. Thank people when they push back or share hard feedback.

3. Normalize feedback (especially the uncomfortable kind).

Create space for reflection. Celebrate lessons learned. When something goes wrong, ask, “What do we take from this?”—not just “Who’s responsible?”

4. Build in rituals that make speaking up the norm.

Weekly debriefs. After-action reviews. Quick check-ins to surface learnings, even the hard ones. These small practices compound over time.

5. Pay attention to how your conversations feel.

Are people really listening—or just waiting to speak? Are ideas being explored—or defended? Are you making progress—or just circling?

Better conversations lead to better outcomes. Always.

Why This Matters for Coaching

You can ask all the great coaching questions in the world—but if your team doesn’t feel safe to answer honestly, they won’t. Coaching only works when people feel safe enough to reflect, share, and stretch themselves.

Psychological safety is the ground coaching stands on. It’s what makes real growth possible.

Try this in your next team meeting:

Ask, “What’s one thing we’re not talking about—but probably should be?”

You might be surprised by what comes up. And that moment? That’s where the culture shifts.