Protect Your Potential
On your journey to YOUR definition of success, you’re going to have some unlearning to do. Whether you got bad advice early in your career or slowly absorbed it over time, taking an honest look at your mindset (and your behaviors) is a must. But it is also critical to take an honest look at your work environment and its impact on your total wellbeing. it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
If you’ve already heard that mental health is real health, it’s time to hear it again. It’s time to really internalize that your emotional and psychological wellbeing are NOT luxuries. This is especially true if you were raised on stories of self-sacrifice, or saw your caregivers constantly put themselves last. If this describes your experience, then you likely started your career in a position of greater risk.
You entered the professional world more susceptible to overwork, and more disposed to tolerate exploitation, boundary pushing, and self-neglect. You must remember that, while sacrifice can be both noble and unavoidable, it is not acceptable as a professional norm. Neither is disrespect, disregard, or outright abuse. No matter how you might try, you truly cannot bloom in an unsafe environment. It doesn’t matter how much grit you think you have, the toll on you will still be too high to attain your actual potential and establish yourself in your zone of professional genius.
I say all that to first remind you that you are intrinsically worth caring for. You are intrinsically deserving of care, consideration, and safety in BOTH your personal and professional lives. For some of us, that message of worthiness takes a long time to really sink in. That’s ok! To help the process along, I want to tackle the issue of care and safety from a practical angle. And practically speaking, your safety is non-negotiable if you want to get anything done!
For the moment, let’s focus on psychological safety. If you’ve been in a position where you’re afraid to express yourself, dread making mistakes, and play every move close to your chest then you know what psychological safety is NOT. Psychological safety is marked by being sure in the knowledge that you can take moderate risks without exposing yourself to shame, punishment, or scapegoating if something goes wrong. It is an active part of every healthy workplace culture, and it is interwoven into everyday processes such as brainstorming, collaboration, implementation, and feedback.
Let me be 100% clear: The need for psychological safety is NOT about personal weakness. It has nothing to do with having or “lacking” an abstract sense of “toughness.” The need for psychological safety is not a personality quirk, and certainly not a personality failing. It is foundational to healthy, collaborative work environments and absolutely critical to realizing your unique strengths and talents. Creativity, innovation, and boldness are not as rare as you might have been led to believe. They are accessible to everyone given the appropriate conditions. They are accessible to YOU, but only if your human need for psychological safety is met.
When this need goes unmet, you are essentially always teetering on the edge of a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response. These are your body’s natural and inevitable responses to trauma, and to life or death situations. If you’re wondering what that has to do with work, I have some news for you. Your body doesn’t know the difference between a deadly and non-deadly threat! So when you’re in a psychologically unsafe work environment, all of your systems are on high alert. In that kind of situation, your basic capacity to function is compromised and creativity, innovation, and genius go flying out the door. So, truly, psychological safety is not about being coddled or insulated from all challenges. It’s about protecting your capacity to rise to meet normal challenges, and opportunities, with full access to the clarity and creativity you bring to work.
Part of creating a career that you love is setting yourself up for success. To do that, you need to be honest with yourself and clear-eyed about your work environment. You must be in integrity with yourself, and accountable to yourself to make the changes you need to protect and develop your potential. So, start the work of unlearning today and tell yourself (as many times as it takes) that your safety is non-negotiable.
