- Define the concepts of EMOTIONAL AGILITY and PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, and explore the building blocks that allow both to prosper on an individual level and within a team environment
- Explore the five common “thinking traps” that get people stuck, and practice three communication and trust-based strategies to help yourself and others break free
- Empower team members to speak their minds, and encourage emotional openness and candid dialogue across the team
- Design a team environment where trust can thrive, open dialogue is encouraged, and every voice contributes to the team’s success
- Establish a stronger community of like-minded individuals and rising thought-leaders
- Develop an action plan to implement psychological safety practices into daily leadership and project work
The Art + Science of Psychological Safety
Leveraging Trust & Emotional Agility to
Empower High-Performing Teams
As conversations surrounding psychological safety in the workplace are becoming increasingly commonplace, a leader’s role takes on an even greater responsibility to foster that culture of trust. Research indicates the most impactful style of trust is socio-emotional trust, or relational trust; I trust you because of the relationship we have, and the emotional savviness that’s brought to the conversation.
Leaders of high-performing teams know that in order for new ideas to succeed, diversity / equity / inclusion initiatives to prosper, and the important, vulnerable conversations to occur, they must continuously affirm their commitment to psychological safety. In this psychological safety and emotional intelligence workshop, participants will explore five common THINKING TRAPS that can be roadblocks for ourselves and for our direct reports, and discover the ESCAPE ROUTE strategies to empower others to successfully identify and move beyond these thinking traps, allowing a culture of psychological safety to thrive.
What You'll Learn
During this psychological safety workshop, participants will:
Leadership Behaviors You'll Develop
By participating in this session, participants will explore first-hand a variety of leadership competencies, including:
- Leading with trust, clarifying how to encourage our peers and team members to leverage their values
- Actively listening and understanding the needs of others to build genuine relational trust
- Leveraging emotional intelligence to thoughtfully consider the needs of others and create space for courageous conversations
Who Is This Workshop For?
This workshop is ideal for leaders at every level, and especially for people managers, senior leaders, HR professionals, and DEI champions who are ready to actively build cultures where every voice is heard, every idea is welcome, and every person feels genuinely safe to contribute their best. It is a powerful session for any leadership team committed to making psychological safety not just a value, but a daily practice.
Related Workshops
Learning Objectives:
- Clarify leadership and communication preferences, and develop a “user’s manual” to articulate our findings
- Discover the attributes, behaviors and common blind-spots of natural preferences, and explore and understand the same attributes and behaviors of opposing types
- Highlight specific actions we can take when working with someone who leverages opposing preferences, and develop a plan to adjust our styles with at least one current colleague
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Effective Communication
- Collaboration + Trust
- Openness + Awareness
Learning Objectives:
- Leverage feedback conversations to transform and inspire performance of peers, direct-reports, and other frequent collaborators
- Identify the theories behind three common negative reactions when receiving feedback
- Discover the three types of feedback to more effectively inspire peak performance
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Giving + Receiving Feedback
- Navigating Conflict Conversations
- Positive Psychology + Trust
Learning Objectives:
- Clarify leadership and communication preferences, and develop a “user’s manual” to articulate our findings
- Discover the attributes, behaviors and common blind-spots of natural preferences, and explore and understand the same attributes and behaviors of opposing types
- Highlight specific actions we can take when working with someone who leverages opposing preferences, and develop a plan to adjust our styles with at least one current colleague
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Effective Communication
- Collaboration + Trust
- Openness + Awareness
Learning Objectives:
- Leverage feedback conversations to transform and inspire performance of peers, direct-reports, and other frequent collaborators
- Identify the theories behind three common negative reactions when receiving feedback
- Discover the three types of feedback to more effectively inspire peak performance
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Giving + Receiving Feedback
- Navigating Conflict Conversations
- Positive Psychology + Trust
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate between the concepts of COACHING and MENTORING in our leadership style
- Experiment with coaching methodologies to enhance our skill set, and determine the strategic questions that inspire others to feel empowered to act
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Coaching for Empowerment
- Asking Strategic Questions + Active Listening
- Talent Development
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the three types of motivation and engagement, taking a pulse on current organization-wide strategies and opportunities for the future
- Experiment with three unique theories to immediately increase intrinsic motivation
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Engagement + Motivation
- Talent Strategy + Development
- Leading with Values
- Active Listening
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate between the concepts of COACHING and MENTORING in our leadership style
- Experiment with coaching methodologies to enhance our skill set, and determine the strategic questions that inspire others to feel empowered to act
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Coaching for Empowerment
- Asking Strategic Questions + Active Listening
- Talent Development
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the three types of motivation and engagement, taking a pulse on current organization-wide strategies and opportunities for the future
- Experiment with three unique theories to immediately increase intrinsic motivation
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Engagement + Motivation
- Talent Strategy + Development
- Leading with Values
- Active Listening
View More Workshops
View More Workshops
Frequently Asked Questions
What is psychological safety, and why do high-performing teams prioritize it?
Psychological safety is the belief that one can speak up, take risks, and share ideas without fear of punishment or embarrassment. Research consistently identifies it as one of the most powerful conditions for team performance, innovation, and inclusion. Leaders who cultivate it create environments where people bring their full capability and creativity to work, resulting in stronger ideas, increased engagement, and a greater impact on strategic goals.
What is socio-emotional trust, and why is it the most impactful form of trust for teams?
Relational trust, the kind built through the quality of our interactions and the emotional intelligence we bring to them, is what makes people feel genuinely safe on a team. It’s deeper than positional trust (based on title) or transactional trust (based on results). When relational trust is strong, teams take creative risks, have honest conversations, and support each other through challenge and change.
What are the five THINKING TRAPS and ESCAPE ROUTE strategies explored in this workshop?
Participants explore five common cognitive patterns that can limit open dialogue, creative risk-taking, and authentic communication, for ourselves and for our direct reports. Each trap is paired with a corresponding ESCAPE ROUTE strategy: a practical, trust-based technique that empowers people to break free and show up more fully.
How does this psychological safety training support change initiatives?
Change initiatives prosper when people feel genuinely confident to share their experiences, perspectives, and ideas. This workshop helps leaders understand their role in continuously affirming that commitment, creating the conditions where important, vulnerable conversations can actually happen and real innovation can take hold.
Can this workshop stand alone, or is it part of a leadership development series?
It is powerful as a standalone session and equally effective as part of a broader leadership development program. It pairs especially well with Building The Dream Team and The DNA of Engagement & Motivation for teams building a comprehensive culture of trust and high performance.
Jacob Goldstein
Jacob Goldstein is the founder of The Leadership Laboratory, and leverages his experiences in education, the performing arts, and corporate learning & leadership development to his work. As a performer, Jacob has sung as a backup vocalist for musical artists such as Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, and Patti LuPone, as a recording artist for Netflix series Sense8, and at venues including The United Center, The Chicago Theater, and Chicago Symphony Center. In the education space, Jacob has served as an educator for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and has been a Guest Lecturer at Northwestern University since 2016. As a Learning & Leadership Development Consultant, Jacob has worked as a one-on-one coach and group workshop facilitator to organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries, including technology, healthcare, non-profit, and fashion/apparel. Jacob holds a Bachelor’s degree from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master’s of Science in Communication from Northwestern University.
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