A Look at the Listening Habits, Behaviors, and Actions that Create Psychological Safety in the Workplace
Why do some teams share ideas freely while others stay quiet, even when they have something valuable to say?
The answer often comes down to how leaders listen. In teams where listening sounds like curiosity instead of judgment and pauses replace interruptions, people feel safe to speak up. That safety rooted in effective listening is what drives innovation, trust, and performance.
During our recent webinar, Psychological Safety Advantage: Building High-Performing Teams, we brought together three thought leaders whose work touches every corner of today’s workplace:
- Erika Whyte, VP and Director of DEI at Janney Montgomery Scott
- David Hare, Senior Director of Learning and Development at Waystar
- Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder and President of SHIFT HR Compliance Training
Their backgrounds differ, but their experiences point to the same conclusion. Psychological safety is not just a theoretical concept. It is a set of listening behaviors that leaders practice every day. Their stories from law, finance, and healthcare revealed a clear theme: stronger teams start with how leaders listen.
This post draws from their insights to show what psychological safety looks like, how listening accelerates it, and which habits leaders can begin using right now.
What Psychological Safety Means in Today’s Workplace
The webinar panelists agreed that psychological safety is no longer a “nice to have.” It is a foundational condition for trust, collaboration, and performance.
Katherin Nukk-Freeman described it as “the belief that you feel safe to be yourself, speak up, and take risks without fear of judgment or punishment in the workplace.” It is the environment where people can ask questions, admit what they do not know, and challenge ideas without second-guessing whether it is safe to do so.
Katherin noted that HR professionals tend to understand psychological safety well, but many frontline managers and business leaders have not yet built the same fluency. As she put it, “not as many frontline managers and business leaders, with the exception of HR and DEI, are as focused on it.” This gap matters, because managers set the tone. When they model curiosity, humility, and openness, employees respond in kind. When they don’t, teams retreat into silence.
For Katherin, psychological safety is inseparable from the culture SHIFT HR Compliance Training helps organizations build. “Because we want to create flourishing for all,” she said, “we focus on building cultures where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and hold one another accountable.”
That commitment to flourishing echoed throughout the conversation.
Erika Whyte reinforced that psychological safety shows up in how people feel in everyday interactions. If people sense hesitation, tension, or judgment, they pull back. If they sense respect and genuine listening, they lean in.
David added another dimension, describing psychological safety as “the ability to invite others to be courageous in tense moments.”
His metaphor captures the heart of the discussion. Safety is not a single policy or moment. It is the environment leaders create through the way they listen, respond, and engage with their teams. When the soil is healthy, teams speak up, take risks, and solve problems together. When it is not, even the most talented people hold back.
Together, their perspectives reflect that psychological safety is both deeply human and deeply practical. It is rooted in how people feel, shaped by what leaders model, and sustained by everyday listening behaviors that tell employees their voices matter.
Why Listening Is the Foundation of Psychological Safety
Across the discussion, all three panelists agreed that psychological safety starts with listening. Erika Whyte distilled it down to two questions: “Can I be honest? And can I show up?” For her, listening creates the trust to do both.
“When we work across differences, collaboration has to be built on trust,” Erika said. “I have to trust that if I am going to be my most vulnerable, you are not going to bring back to me anything that feels negative.”
David Hare linked listening to leadership accountability.
“As a leader, how it makes our team members feel as a result of our actions or inactions really matters,” David said. “You have to step outside of yourself and see how they’re feeling because of what you did or didn’t do.”
This discussion highlights a truth that often gets overlooked. Psychological safety is not only impacted about what people say. It is about what others hear, reflect, and reinforce.
Listening Behaviors That Build Trust and Openness
Throughout the webinar, each panelist pointed to small listening habits that change team dynamics.
Katherin Nukk-Freeman: “Leaders need to actively seek, encourage, and empower feedback from those on their teams so that we can solve complex challenges together.”
Her advice turns listening from a passive act into a deliberate system. Asking and acting on feedback tells employees their voices have real weight.
Erika Whyte: “People might not be able to name the words, but they understand how they feel.”
This reminder reframes listening as empathy in action. Leaders cannot wait for perfect phrasing or surveys. They must sense tone, pause before responding, and recognize when someone is holding back.
David Hare: “Psychological safety is the soil at which the seeds of trust, commitment, appreciation, and innovation grow.”
This metaphor set the tone for the conversation. When leaders listen to learn, they enrich that soil and make space for new ideas to take root.
A Five-Step Listening Playbook for Leaders
Our expert’s stories align around five actions that any leader can start this week.
- Listen before you fix
When someone raises a concern, resist the urge to problem-solve immediately. Reflect back what you heard and ask if you captured it correctly.
- Ask for dissent
David’s test for leaders was simple: “When was the last time someone told you you were wrong and you accepted it without reacting.” If you can’t recall, your team may not feel safe yet.
- Notice who isn’t speaking
Erika shared how generational and geographic differences shape silence. “When someone feels like they can speak up regardless of who is in the room, that’s when you know it’s working.”
- Reframe mistakes as learning
Katherin emphasized debriefing without blame. “Conduct postmortems and ask what could we do differently next time. Frame everything as a learning experience.” - Close the loop
Let people know how their input changed decisions. That visible follow-through turns listening into trust.
How Listening Supports Teams Through Change
The panelists also explored how AI and rapid workplace change are increasing the importance of listening.
As David noted, “AI can either be a uniter or a separator. You can’t innovate if there’s no psychological safety.” When uncertainty is high and roles are shifting, teams need the reassurance that questions and concerns will be met with openness rather than judgment.
Erika emphasized the human side of this transition. “If people feel they can’t be safe to express that they’re afraid of new technology, they’ll charge up the mountain by themselves. That’s not a great feeling.”
Her point reflects what many organizations are experiencing right now. Employees want clarity, support, and space to learn, and those needs surface only when leaders are listening closely enough to notice them.
Katherin brought the conversation full circle. “It takes courage to ask questions and admit what we don’t know. To do that, you have to trust that your workplace will listen.”
That trust is the anchor in periods of rapid change. When leaders listen with intention, they help teams move from fear to curiosity and from uncertainty to problem-solving.
Taken together, their insights reveal a simple truth. In times of transformation, listening is not just a communication skill. It is a stabilizing force that helps people navigate change with confidence, stay connected to one another, and contribute their best thinking when it matters most.
Everyday Signs That Your Listening Culture Is Working
The group pointed to several signals that show when effective listening is becoming part of the culture and psychological safety is starting to take root.
- People raise problems earlier and more openly
- Team members challenge ideas and still feel respected afterward
- Quieter employees start to contribute in meetings
- Postmortems focus on learning, not blame
- Leaders paraphrase and thank others for speaking up
As Katherin put it, “We need to train leaders to model curiosity and humility, to listen actively, and to understand that they don’t have all the answers.”
Erika echoed that sentiment: “Once you show your vulnerability, you can measure how your teams’ rally. They become your biggest champions because you’ve shown them that you can get in it with them.”
What to Do When Psychological Safety Scores Are Low
The conversation closed with a question from an attendee about what to do if surveys reveal low psychological safety.
Erika answered with urgency. “Look for themes. If you’re seeing patterns like ‘my manager doesn’t listen’ or ‘I get talked over,’ that’s where you lean in.”
Katherin added, “Once you have those themes, communicate. Employees want to feel heard. Make sure people know you’re taking action based on what you heard.”
Their guidance reinforced a core lesson of the entire session. Listening is not a soft skill. It is a leadership system that keeps teams informed, connected, and performing under pressure.
Make Every Conversation Count
SHIFT HR Compliance Training designs legally grounded, empathy-driven learning that helps organizations turn listening into action. Explore our courses on psychological safety, effective listening, and workplace belonging.
Key Quotes on Psychological Safety
“Psychological safety is the belief that you feel safe to be yourself, speak up, and take risks without fear of judgment or punishment.”
Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder and President, SHIFT HR Compliance Training
“You can’t innovate if there’s no psychological safety.”
David Hare, Senior Director of Learning and Development, Wellstar
Key Quotes on Vulnerability and Trust
“For me, what psychological safety really means is ‘Can I be honest, and can I show up’.”
Erika Whyte, VP and Director of DEI, Janney Montgomery Scott
“Once you show your vulnerability, your teams rally because you’ve shown them that you can get in it with them.”
Erika Whyte, VP and Director of DEI, Janney Montgomery Scott
“It takes courage to ask questions and admit what we don’t know.”
Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder and President, SHIFT HR Compliance Training
Key Quotes on Listening Behaviors
“When was the last time someone told you you were wrong and you accepted it without reacting?”
David Hare, Senior Director of Learning and Development, Wellstar
“Employees want to feel heard and to know you’re taking their feedback to heart.”
Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder and President, SHIFT HR Compliance Training
Key Quotes on Leadership Accountability
“Leaders need to actively seek, encourage, and empower feedback from those on their teams.”
Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder and President, SHIFT HR Compliance Training
“People might not be able to name the words, but they understand how they feel.”
Erika Whyte, VP and Director of DEI, Janney Montgomery Scott
Summary
Psychological safety grows when leaders listen. Listening is not passive. It is a daily act of curiosity, humility, and follow-through. The SHIFT HR Compliance Training webinar made it clear that listening transforms disagreement into discovery and mistakes into shared learning. The formula is simple but powerful: listen first, ask for dissent, reflect what you heard, and show what changed.
