# How We Respond

*Jade Garratt · Interpersonal Practice, Voice & Silence*

A corrective to the field's overemphasis on the speaking-up side of psychological safety. The crux of PS is less about what people say and more about how their words are received, and how they predict they will be received: you can tell people to speak up endlessly, but if your past responses, present responses, or anticipated responses involve punishing, blaming or humiliating them, they won't. And 'punishment' need not be overt — not yelling or a disciplinary meeting, but something subtler and sometimes just as frightening: disapproval that leads to being overlooked, reputational damage, social ostracisation within the team. This places the onus on the listener, not the speaker. It can be uncomfortable to accept, especially when people stay quiet for reasons rooted in how they were treated elsewhere, long before us — which is precisely why how we act now ripples outward beyond the immediate interaction. The article presses on self-awareness: it's easy to assume we're already approachable, but how many of us have never fired off a snappy email, shown irritation at a 'should-know-this' question, or been passive-aggressive when criticised? Our reactions when tired, distracted or overwhelmed matter as much as our good-day responses, and unconscious bias shapes how we receive others whether we intend it or not. Drawing on Bennis ('becoming a leader is similar to becoming a fully integrated human being') and Frankl ('between stimulus and response there is a space'), it frames the work as ongoing and never finished: reflecting on our behaviour, asking for and listening to feedback, narrowing the gap between intention and impact, and apologising and repairing when we get it wrong.

- **This page:** https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/how-we-respond-matters/
- **Read the full article on psychsafety.com:** https://psychsafety.com/how-we-respond-matters/
- **Interactive map:** https://explore.psychsafety.com/?node=how-respond

## Connected concepts (42)

- [Core Principles](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/our-core-principles.md)
- [Calculus of Voice](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-calculus-of-voice.md)
- [Conceptualizing Employee Silence and Employee Voice as Multidimensional Constructs](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/van-dyne-ang-botero-2003.md) (paper)
- [Distinguishing Voice and Silence at Work: Unique Relationships with Perceived Impact, Psychological Safety, and Burnout](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/sherf-parke-isaakyan-2021.md) (paper)
- [Employee Voice and Silence: Taking Stock a Decade Later](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/morrison-2023.md) (paper)
- [PS & Trust](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-difference-between-trust-and-psychological-safety.md)
- [Disrupted Routines: Team Learning and New Technology Implementation in Hospitals](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/edmondson-bohmer-pisano-2001.md) (paper)
- [Leadership Behavior and Employee Voice: Is the Door Really Open?](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/detert-burris-2007.md) (paper)
- [Managing the Risk of Learning: Psychological Safety in Work Teams](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/edmondson-2002.md) (paper)
- [Selling Issues to Top Management](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/dutton-ashford-1993.md) (paper)
- [Silenced by Fear: The Nature, Sources, and Consequences of Fear at Work](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/kish-gephart-detert-trevino-edmondson-2009.md) (paper)
- [Speaking Up in the Operating Room: How Team Leaders Promote Learning in Interdisciplinary Action Teams](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/edmondson-2003b.md) (paper)
- [The Tenerife Disaster](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-tenerife-disaster-of-1977-were-going.md)
- [Top 10 Ways to Foster PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/top-10-ways-to-foster-psychological-safety-in-the-workplace.md)
- [Ambiguity & Predictability](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/ambiguity-predictability-and-psychological-safety.md)
- [Collective Responsibility](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/leaders-are-not-solely-responsible-for-psychological-safety.md)
- [Making it Safe: The Effects of Leader Inclusiveness and Professional Status on Psychological Safety and Improvement Efforts in Health Care Teams](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/nembhard-edmondson-2006.md) (paper)
- [Overcoming Walls and Voids: Responsive Practices That Enable Frontline Workers to Feel Heard](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/kerrissey-satterstrom-pae-albert-2024.md) (paper)
- [Reflections: Voice and Silence in Workplace Conversations](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/edmondson-besieux-2021.md) (paper)
- [Taking Your Team Behind the Curtain: The Effects of Leader Feedback-Sharing and Feedback-Seeking on Team Psychological Safety](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/coutifaris-grant-2021.md) (paper)
- [The PS Observer Effect](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/how-you-respond-matters.md)
- [Voice Flows to and around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped or Hurt by Employee Voice](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/detert-burris-harrison-martin-2013.md) (paper)
- [Being Approachable](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/being-approachable.md)
- [Coaching & PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/coaching-and-psychological-safety-listening-trust-and-letting-go-of-control.md)
- [Contracting & Recontracting](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/contracting-and-recontracting.md)
- [Coping with Uncertainty: The Interaction of Psychological Safety and Authentic Leadership in their Effects on Defensive Decision Making](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/artinger-et-al-2025.md) (paper)
- [Paul O'Neill / Alcoa](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/paul-oneill-a-psychological-safety-success-story.md)
- [Psychological Safety 101 Course](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-101-course.md)
- [Rebuilding PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/rebuilding-psychological-safety-when-its-broken.md)
- [Schein's Humble Inquiry](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/edgar-scheins-humble-inquiry.md)
- [What Not to Say](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/what-not-to-say-as-a-manager.md)
- [You Can't Fix a Secret](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/you-cant-fix-a-secret.md)
- [All Feedback is Subjective](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/all-feedback-is-subjective.md)
- [Empathy & PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/empathy.md)
- [Giving Feedback with PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/giving-feedback-with-psychological-safety.md)
- [Hard to Say Sorry](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/hard-to-say-im-sorry.md)
- [How to Promote Psychological Safety at Work](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/how-to-promote-psychological-safety-at-work.md)
- [Safety amid the Scalpels: Creating Psychological Safety in the Operating Room](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/cohen-et-al-2024.md) (paper)
- [Seven Harmful Behaviours](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/seven-behaviours-damage-psychological-safety.md)
- [Things You Might Hear When a Team Feels Psychologically Safe](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/things-you-might-hear-when-a-team-feels-psychologically-safe.md)
- [Transactional Analysis](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/transactional-analysis.md)
- [Humour & PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/humour-and-psychological-safety.md)