Effective risk management is critical to business success. Historically, workplace risk management was focused on lowering physical risks. However, improving workplace psychosocial safety has recently gathered momentum as its impact on organizational culture and the bottom line is more understood. In the modern workplace, it is frequently argued that the most significant risk to staff’s psychosocial safety is from their leaders.
It is no surprise then that an ineffective leader does little to improve psychosocial safety, and a toxic leader reduces psychological safety. Reduced workplace psychosocial safety lowers people’s creativity and productivity and increases the risk of psychological injuries such as depression and anxiety, which can result in reputational damage and compensation claims. All businesses should now be aware of and adhere to the new global ISO 45003 guidelines for managing psychosocial health in the workplace.
Interestingly, though, what many people see as the ability to lead is a person’s innate ability to embrace and thrive in fear-inducing environments that others run a mile from. So, while fear is a universal emotion, how a person processes fear is not universal. This gives an advantage to individuals in business who can process fear rather than flee from fear-inducing situations such as presenting to large groups, having difficult conversations, or dealing with complex problems.
For example, the fear of public speaking affects between 40% and 75% of people. However, public speaking, from large-scale presentations to shareholder meetings to media events to appearing before Congress, is a required core competency and skill for leaders. Leaders can ‘feel the fear and do it anyway.’ This is why these ‘leaders’ function better (but don’t necessarily perform better) in the stressful, volatile, uncertain, and fear-inducing environments they are asked to occupy in business.
Effective leaders positively utilize their innate ability to process fear differently and function in fear-inducing situations. They act as a psychological buffer for their teams, reducing psychosocial risks such as anxiety, arousal, and ambiguity and improving the team's and organization's overall functioning. Their role in creating a positive work environment can inspire and motivate their teams.
The ability to process fear and function effectively in fear-inducing situations makes leaders different and helps them lead people in many situations. However, for some leaders, elements of their innate personality, applied in the wrong way in the wrong situation, can make them, at best, ineffective and, at worst, toxic. Situational context is essential as it means the same leader can be effective in some situations yet be ineffective or toxic in others.
At an individual level, a successful leader is self-aware, playing to their strengths and acting upon a capability development plan to raise their general effectiveness and lower any risk of toxicity. At an organizational level, businesses must be able to assess their leaders' potential toxicity and role suitability to mitigate psychological risk and reputational damage and limit legal liabilities.
The GreyScale™ assessment can assist at the individual and organizational level by identifying where personalities can be directed and developed to create highly effective leaders who can significantly improve workplace culture, performance, and results. This identification and development process offers a path for the growth and improvement of leaders and their teams.
Click here to take The GreyScale assessment and gain deep insight into your leadership personality, values, relationships, and motivations.
