Imposter Syndrome and Psychological Safety.

Is your workplace psychologically safe?

In almost every prospective client call I am on, psychological safety comes up, which is a very good thing.

I love working with organisations who truly care about this and are curious as to how psychological safety and Imposter Syndrome intersect across their people / teams / leaders and organisations as a whole. 

A lot of organisations say they prioritise psychological safety.

But it's one thing to say, it's another thing entirely to monitor it. 

True psychological safety isn’t a value on a website or a throwaway line in a team meeting. It’s a felt sense of safety, the ability to speak up, challenge, admit mistakes, ask for help, or say “I don’t know” without fear of humiliation or punishment. In my previously life as a Technology Leader, I was fortunate to work in some incredible psychologically safe environments (and two that were the very opposite) 'safety' made a profound difference. 

But here’s the hard truth: a lot of high-performing environments don’t cultivate this well.

They perform, but people underneath are silently burning out, hiding their fear, and masking their experiences like Imposter Syndrome daily.

Let's explore...

What Is Psychological Safety?

The term was coined by Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson in 1999, through her seminal paper “Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams.”

Her research found that teams with high psychological safety are more likely to learn from mistakes, innovate, and grow, because members feel safe to speak up without fear of embarrassment or punishment.

In Edmondson’s words:

“It’s not about being nice. It’s about giving candid feedback, openly admitting mistakes, and learning from each other.”

Her decades of work culminated in her book The Fearless Organization (2019), where she explains that psychological safety is a critical driver of performance, inclusion, and engagement, especially in high-stakes or high-pressure environments like hospitals, legal teams, finance, tech, and leadership teams.

And the data backs it up…

Why Psychological Safety drives high performance.

• Google’s Project Aristotle found psychological safety was the #1 factor in high-performing teams, more important than skill, intelligence, or team makeup.

• According to a McKinsey study 89 percent of employee respondents said they believe that psychological safety in the workplace is essential.

• A BCG insight report highlights how psychological safety levels the playing field for employees. It drives inclusion and reduces attrition in diverse high-performnance teams. 

   

As Edmondson puts it:

“It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity for teams that need to learn, problem-solve, and perform under pressure.”

How to know if your Workplace is Psychologically Safe?

Ask yourself and your team these questions:

• Can people speak up without fear of retribution?
• Are mistakes treated as learning opportunities or sources of shame?
• Are diverse perspectives actively invited and listened to?
• Can you admit when you don’t know something or need help?
• Do leaders role model vulnerability and emotional honesty?

When we don't have psychological safety, it is harder to innovate, collaborate, or lead from a place of authenticity and openness, instead we are often on auto-pilot for self-preservation. We are surviving, not really thriving. 

And survival mode is not sustainable, not for high performance, not for wellbeing, and definitely not for culture. Yes, workplaces are not all unicorns and rainbows, but when you don't feel 'safe' that triggers a whole new level of pressure and fear. 

Why this matters for Imposter Syndrome

Imposter Syndrome thrives in environments where fear is normalised and perfection or chronically overworking is rewarded. Before I go any further -  I need to highlight that Imposter Syndrome is felt by individuals who work in psychologically safe environements too. Psych safety doesn't mean the absence of Imposter Syndrome, but it does mean the person experiencing Imposter Syndrome is more likely to share their expereince, seek feedback and support to help navigate their expereince better as the Imposter triggers will not be as harsh or as frequent (or both) in a safe environment. 

When people DON'T feel safe, they:

• Overcompensate through overwork and toxic perfectionism

• Hide their struggles and isolate

• Internalise failure as personal inadequacy

• Stay silent about brilliant ideas for fear they’re “not good enough” and will be publiclly shutdown.

But in psychologically safe environments?

People are more likely to:

• Name their fears, self-doubt or Imposter Syndrome before it spirals

• Receive acknowledgement & reassurance instead of judgment

• Ask for support without fear of appearing 'weak' or inadequate

• Feel seen and validated, not scrutinised

And the science backs this up...

When people feel psychologically safe, their brain is more likely to stay in a growth-oriented state (prefrontal cortex), rather than defaulting to fear-based threat response driven primarily via the (amygdala). This means they’re more capable of learning, performing, and solving problems, even under pressure.

Here’s what you can do:

Whether you’re a leader, manager, business owner or team contributor you influence the climate around you.

Here are some starting points. 

1. Model vulnerability: Own mistakes. Ask for feedback. Admit when you’re unsure. It builds trust.

2. Welcome challenge: Invite people to disagree with you. Thank them when they do. Open the conversation, make people feel seen and heard.

3. Acknowledge fears & doubts: If someone is doubting themselves or fearful for any reason, encourage them to name it, normalise talking about it,whenever it raises it's head and create room for discussion.

4. Champion inclusion: True safety isn’t uniform. What feels safe for a neurotypical individual may not feel safe for a neurodivergent individual just as one example. Understand the diversity of your teams needs and adapt.

5. Ask this powerful question:

   “What would make this space feel safer for you to speak up today?” (it's on of my favs)

As shared: It's MUCH harder to conquer your Imposter Syndrome if you don’t feel safe enough to be yourself.

And no high-performing team will sustain its success if its people are masking, self-silencing, or living in fear. Everyone has a breaking point. 

So ask yourself honestly:

Is your workplace psychologically safe? and what can you contribute regularly to making it safe? 

True safety is the foundation of true performance.

If we want brilliance, innovation, and leadership to rise, we have to make it safe to be human first.

Until next time.

Alison