Building a Psychologically Confident Workforce

Discover how to build a psychologically confident workforce that drives innovation and performance.

Did you know that half of the workforce keeps their best ideas to themselves, while only a third feel heard? 

Imagine the impact on your organization when everyone offers their best ideas for solving problems and imagining new possibilities.

What happens at the white line is critical to this transformation. Leaders create a psychologically confident environment by taking three actions.

The 3 Vital Elements of Psychological Confidence

1. Feel Encouraged

Leaders actively encourage people to speak honestly, identifying problems promptly and offering innovative ideas to enhance their work.

• ✅ Toyota empowers assembly-line workers to stop production if they spot a problem. They celebrate the employee’s action, even if they were incorrect about the problem. Promoting the behaviors is vital for success. If they only applauded the action if the employee was right, fewer would take the risk, and minor problems would morph into big, costly ones.

This culture of encouragement has made them global quality leaders. 

• ❌ In contrast, Boeing’s recent challenges reportedly stem from managers shifting their focus from quality to production volume. They allegedly discouraged employees from flagging problems, resulting in a series of costly in-flight problems.

Action: Reward the behaviors you want to promote. 

2. Feel Respected

Leaders treat people with dignity and promote agreeable disagreement. They provide agency with sensible boundaries and encourage people to use their judgment. 

• ✅ During Southwest Airlines’ heyday, employees were trusted to make judgment calls. That trust, rooted in mutual respect, built unity across the company.
  
• ❌ At Uber (pre-2017), internal disrespect and a toxic culture led to lawsuits, resignations, and a complete brand overhaul.

Action: Stop dismissive behavior in its tracks. Acknowledge every contribution. 

3. Feel Heard

People know their voice makes a difference. Leaders practice “Listening to Understand” so their employees have tangible evidence that their voice is heard and understood.

• ✅ At Pixar, feedback from anyone can shape the creative process. That’s why their storytelling is world-class.
  
• ❌ At Wells Fargo, employees raised alarms about unethical pressure to meet sales quotas. They were ignored—or punished. That silence cost the company billions in fines and damaged its reputation.

Action: Use the 3-step Listening to Understand process. Follow up. Highlight team input when decisions are made.

What Happens When One Element Is Missing?

Here’s how the system breaks down:

Each element is a leg of the stool. Remove one, and the whole thing collapses.

We’ll discuss these steps in my next masterclass, Building Psychological Confidence in Your Workforce, which takes place on June 12 at 11:00 a.m. U.S. Central Time.

As always, these sessions are not lectures, but workshops where you develop practices you can implement immediately.

About Author

Chris Kolenda

I work with leaders who want to build unshakeable business endurance.

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