Your team’s silence speaks louder than their words.
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You know the signs: meetings where no one really disagrees, updates that sound way too polished, risks that surface later than they should, and a team that nods along but rarely pushes back.
On the surface, everything looks fine. Work gets done, targets are met, the room is calm. But underneath, you can feel it — the energy is flat, the thinking is safe, and you know you’re not getting the whole picture.
It’s frustrating. You want your team to challenge assumptions, to bring their best ideas, and to tell you what you might be missing. But instead, you get silence. And over time, that silence carries a cost.
Why psychological safety matters
When people don’t feel safe to disagree with you, to admit mistakes, or to say what they really think, they play it safe instead: they tell you what they think you want to hear. They hold back the questions, the concerns, the spark of a new idea — because the risk of saying the wrong thing feels bigger than the benefit of saying it at all.
You can be the most approachable leader in the world and still not be providing real psychological safety for your team.
Psychological safety isn’t about being nice or making work feel comfortable. It’s about creating the conditions where people feel safe to take interpersonal risks: to disagree, to share half-formed ideas, to put their hand up and say, “I don’t know”, and to make a mistake without being punished for it.
And the impact goes beyond your team. Leaders without psychological safety around them end up isolated. They’re the last to hear bad news. They make decisions with half the information. And slowly, without even noticing, they lose credibility — because people trust them less if they can’t be honest with them.
Harvard research shows that psychologically safe teams make fewer critical mistakes because problems surface sooner. And Google’s Project Aristotle found it was the single strongest factor behind high-performing teams.
The cost of a team that won’t speak up
One of my clients, a senior leader in fintech, discovered this the hard way. On the surface, her team looked strong. Targets were being hit, stakeholders were satisfied, nothing appeared to be wrong.
But when she came to me, she admitted a quiet unease: “I don’t remember the last time someone in my team really challenged me.”
As we worked together, it became clear why. Her team rarely disagreed with her. Updates were polished, but new ideas never came forward. They nodded along with direction but almost never pushed back. And without realising it, she had been reinforcing this dynamic — her quick rebuttals, sharp questioning, and even her drive to keep meetings “efficient” all signalled the same message: dissent and risk-taking weren’t welcome here.
This is the trap so many senior leaders fall into.
Through our work together, she began experimenting with small but powerful changes. She started asking questions before giving answers. She held back her view until others had spoken. She encouraged people to take risks rather than just playing it safe. And when she made a mistake, she made sure to name it out loud.
The impact was immediate. Her team began to open up, risks surfaced earlier, ideas that had been sitting under the surface came into the room. Meetings had a different energy now — more debate, more candour, more creativity.
And for the first time in years, she felt like she was leading a team that was truly thinking with her rather than just nodding along.
3 shifts to build psychological safety in your team
Psychological safety doesn’t happen by accident. It’s created in the everyday choices you make as a leader. Here are three shifts that can make the difference:
From silence as alignment → to silence as a red flag
If no one disagrees with you, that’s not alignment — it means people don’t feel safe enough to be candid. Treat silence as a warning sign. Ask directly: “What risks aren’t we talking about?” or “What’s the view no one has voiced yet?”
From reacting fast → to rewarding honesty
Your first reaction teaches people everything. A sharp rebuttal, a defensive tone, even a sigh can train people to hold back next time. Instead, pause. Thank them for raising it. Ask them to say more. You’re not just responding to that one comment — you’re showing everyone in the room that candour is valued.
From comfort → to constructive stretch
Psychological safety isn’t about avoiding conflict. It’s about making it safe to disagree and safe to fail. Model it by admitting your own mistakes, by asking your team where you could do better, by inviting them to challenge your assumptions. Safety grows when people see you stretch yourself first.
Psychological safety is the foundation of performance, innovation, and trust. And for senior leaders, it’s what breaks the silence that creeps in at the top. The real question is this: does your team feel safe enough to tell you the truth?
ICYMI
If you’ve ever felt the weight of carrying too much, or wondered why your next leaders aren’t stepping up, you’ll want to read these:
The hidden fear behind leaders who do it all themselves
One of the hardest habits to break in leadership is doing it all yourself. But what looks like control is often fear — and it holds everyone back.The myth of “If they wanted to, they would” in leadership
Your next leaders might not be raising their hand — not because they lack ambition, but because they don’t yet see themselves there yet.
Leadership isn’t built overnight. It’s built in the choices you make every day.
Each week, The Leadership Edge brings you one step closer to leading with influence, presence, and impact. Keep leaning into the edge, that’s where growth happens.
See you in the next edition,
Tania Carvalho
Founder & Executive Coach