THEN to NOW Leadership Shift #5: Champion of the Culture | How Vulnerability Builds Psychological Safety

Mathilde was nervous. Very nervous. From behind the curtain, she looked out into the audience of the full house. She was trying to make out her loved ones, but the lights were too bright for her to recognize anybody. Soon she would be on; she would finally take the stage as Cosette in the classic musical Les Misérables. Her chest tightened, nerves hit, and anxiety elevated. She started the deep breathing exercises that always helped her to calm down. Except for this time, it did not work. If anything her heart rate increased.

And then ready or not, nervous or not, her cue came.

She stepped onto the stage into the lights and starting with her very first line; she delighted the crowd.

Despite her nerves and to no one’s surprise, Mathilde and the whole ensemble pulled off a superb performance. The crowd loved it and sent them off with a thundering and lengthy standing ovation. Mathilde felt over the moon.

Later that night, over drinks after the show, Mathilde shared her incredible nervousness before the show with her fellow actors. She laughed out loud thinking about it now, turned to her COO, Director of Marketing, and the sales team, and said: “And you know the best part? I was more nervous than before last week’s big meeting with our investors!”

Investors, COO, Director of Marketing, Sales team?

You see, Mathilde and the whole ensemble are not your typical actors. During the day they run a company together: Front, a workflow application. Mathilde is the co-founder and CEO. The entire Front team puts on a musical once a year. This year it was Les Misérables with Mathilde as Cosette.

Image Source: Broadway World

Why would CEO Mathilde put herself through this nerve-racking experience you might ask?

Short answer: Psychological Safety! Performing a musical together as a team is a powerful way to practice THE key element of any high-performance team: psychological safety. Creating and practicing the musical together creates a culture where people can and need to be vulnerable, take risks, make mistakes, fail, try again, fail again and finally improve. Whether they're dancing, singing, narrating, or playing an instrument, it brings the team together. Back THEN it was trust falls; NOW it is a musical.

And the track record of the Front teams speaks for itself.

• Acquiring more than 4,000 customers

• Raising almost $80 million in funding

• Closing the books on its first acquisition

Now, putting on a musical is not for everybody of course. The fact remains though that it is our job as NOW leaders, to build and keep a culture of psychological safety.

So how do we do it? How can we make it operational?

Here is one simple, yet very powerful thing we can all do starting tomorrow to move our teams towards psychological safety. I invite you to share one meaningful personal or professional goal with your team. It might be running a half marathon, learning a new language, becoming a better parent, taking up playing an instrument, or becoming a better delegator or listener at work. The important thing is that it is a meaningful and deeply personal goal. Share what it is, why it is important to you and how you plan to achieve it.

By sharing a meaningful personal or professional goal with our team you display some vulnerability and humility. And vulnerability and humility are two of the cornerstones of a culture of psychological safety.

Leadership Shift #5: Champion of the Culture

Culture eats strategy for breakfast, meaning: As NOW leaders we are responsible for driving our company's and our team’s culture. As NOW leaders, we are responsible for how our team members interact. All of it: the good, the bad, the ugly. Great leadership is not about individual excellence but about our ability to drive and shape the culture of our organization.   

From THEN individual leadership excellence to NOW driving our organization’s culture.

From THEN sole focus on talent to NOW champion of the culture.