Practices for Psychological Safety

"It is very hard for anything to matter to someone who doesn't first believe that they matter. And on the flip side, when people feel that they matter, they act like they matter." Senior Fellow at the Center for Meaning and Purpose at Colorado State University, Zach Mercurio talks about why traditional employee engagement strategies fall short and how the psychological concept of mattering serves...

Nobody is talking about this moose head on the table even though we all see it, we all smell it. Podcaster, author, and leadership trainer, Lisa Gill of Tuff Leadership Training talks about what it truly takes to build human-centric, autonomous, and psychologically safe workplaces. ------- Helen's new book Practices for Psychological Safety is available to pre-order (published October 2026)- https...

Psychological safety isn't just a leadership responsibility—it’s a team sport. Co-founders of psychsafety.com , Jade Garrett and Tom Geraghty explore how teams can practically dismantle power barriers and foster everyday trust. Rather than relying on top-down "leaderism" or oversimplified staged models, Jade and Tom break down what it actually takes to make speaking up meaningful, address steep or...

How do you turn around a struggling healthcare workplace with high turnover, low morale, and patient satisfaction below the national average - without an extra budget or more hours in the day? Dr. Ben Allen shares his remarkable journey of transforming Birley Health Centre into one of the UK's top-performing surgeries. Rather than chasing downstream symptoms, Ben took a step back to "invest in the...

How do you address uncomfortable topics that hinder team progress? Karin Tenelius from Tuff Leadership Training joins Helen to argue that traditional management often fails because leaders prioritise broadcasting over genuine listening, a skill she defines as a state of being rather than a mere activity. ------- Helen's new book Practices for Psychological Safety is available to pre-order (publish...

How does the nervous system influence team dynamics and psychological safety in the workplace? Helen chats to Dr. Jessica Cooper to explore practical ways to foster safety, resilience, and genuine connection within teams. ------- Visit helensandersonassociates.co.uk for information on the initiatives discussed in this episode.

Organisational behaviour and innovation expert, Colin Fisher shares groundbreaking ideas on team dynamics, leadership, psychological safety, and how to foster effective collaboration. Discover how informal leadership, clarity of goals, social sensitivity, and reflective practices can transform team performance and organisational culture. Learn more about Colin and his work here https://colinmfishe...

Dr Amanda Potter, CEO of B Talent chats to me about the psychometric tests that they've been developing and validating with 10 different scales based on how people are feeling about their work. ------- Visit helensandersonassociates.co.uk for information on the initiatives discussed in this episode.

Dimensions have a long history of embedding some of the practices that we talk about in psychological safety. Rachael Dodgson, CEO of Dimensions joins me to talk about what it's like to scale some of the practices that we talk about as being important for psychological safety. ------- Visit helensandersonassociates.co.uk for information on the initiatives discussed in this episode.

I highly recommend Nic's new book - Happiness is a Serious Business

In this podcast I explain the six main ways to ensure that your team agreements make a difference.

We have been doing action research with a range of leaders across health and social care to explore a different approach to one-to-ones. This has involved using Confirmation Practices around the person's roles, and around building psychological safety within the team. In this episode Lu Dash, Deputy CEO, describes her experience of being part of this research.

What do you do when new team members join an established team? Do you start Team Agreements from scratch again, or expect them to accept the Team Agreements as they are? Michelle explains how she approached this in a service in Camden. She also introduced the principles of Team Agreements with the people who live in the Extra Care Scheme. Michelle Livesley is my friend and colleague, and you can f...

What difference could it make if Team Agreements were part of the recruitment, induction and probation process? This is what Sam is experimenting with. Sam Jones is an Associate Director,Locality Impact in North East and Yorkshire at the Stroke Association. To talk more about using Team Agreements in recruitment and practices for psychological safety please connect with me on Linked In https://www...

We have been doing action research with a range of leaders across health and social care to explore a different approach to one-to-ones. This has involved using Confirmation Practices around the person's roles, and around building psychological safety within the team. In this episode two Speech and Language Therapists from Communicate SLT CIC Caroline Coyne, the CEO and Founder, and .Rhian Owen de...

What can you do when your team keeps getting stuck with one of their Team Agreements? One option is to use an Immunity to Change map, and in this podcast Diana explains how we did this, and the impact that it had on the team, and what they are doing now. Diana Cole is the CEO at Community, Equality, Disability Action (CEDA). To talk more about using Immunity to Change maps and Team Agreements plea...

Can Team Agreements be scaled across an organisation? Martin is a clinical and coaching psychologist in Ireland and talks about how he is introducing Team Agreements at scale and what he is learning from this. To talk more about Team Agreements and practices for psychological safety please connect with me on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/helensandersonhsa/ and there is more information on...

Rachel describes how she introduced Team Agreements to Flying Start at the Isle of Anglesey Council. She talks about where the team was at the beginning, what she did and the impact that this has had. A podcast to listen to if you want to hear a team leaders perspective on developing Team Agreements. To talk more about usingTeam Agreements please connect with me on Linked In https://www.linkedin.c...

If you have imposter syndrome, can you change it? I supported Barb Swartz-Biscaro to develop her Immunity to Change map and in this podcast she talks about they change she wanted to make around her confidence, how she created her map, and the impact of the experiments she did. PS Barb shows that the answer is yes. To talk more about Immunity to Change maps and how they are used in practice please...

Liza opened my eyes to the potential of Team Agreements being a potential preventive strategy. Can they help prevent bullying and harassment in the workplace? Liza thinks so and explains why in this podcast. Liza has her own podcast series and you can find her at the Positive Change Podcast on Spotify. To talk more about Team Agreements and practices for psychological safety please connect with me...

What is it like to start using Confirmation Practices around your roles? In this episode Sam explains what it was like to get started, how she is using them, and the difference they are making. This is what Sam is experimenting with. Sam Jones is an Associate Director,Locality Impact in North East and Yorkshire at the Stroke Association. To talk more about using Confirmation Practices and practice...

I spent the day with Vicky and her team supporting them to create their Team Agreements and decide on ways to keep them alive. If you want to know the steps you can take to create Team Agreements, from individual, team to organisation, then this is the podcast to listen to. Vicky Ferrier is the Chief People and Commercial Officer at Konsileo. Konsileo is an innovative, self-managed brokerage team....

------- Visit helensandersonassociates.co.uk for information on the initiatives discussed in this episode.

We have been doing action research with a range of leaders across health and social care to explore a different approach to one-to-ones. This has involved using Confirmation Practices around the person's roles, and around building psychological safety within the team. In this episode Sam Jones, Regional Director with The Stroke Association, describes her experience of being part of this research.

We have been doing action research with a range of leaders across health and social care to explore a different approach to one-to-ones. This has involved using Confirmation Practices around the person's roles, and around building psychological safety within the team. In this episode Lyse Edwards, Head of Operations with the Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, describes her exper...