I want to talk about workplace safety. Not the OSHA-type stuff like not running with scissors. I want to talk about the safety to be vulnerable.
Before you decide that I’m being way too squishy for you, hear me out.
In order to learn something, we first need to be open to the idea that we don’t know everything – that there is, in fact, something for us to learn. Sitting in a place of “not knowing” and having other people view and treat us as “not knowing” is inherently vulnerable. For some people, this can be a particularly uncomfortable vulnerability.
In order to learn something, we need to make mistakes. Seriously, think for a moment. How often have you learned something new without making any mistakes in the process? Well, making mistakes is vulnerable. Being seen as making a mistake, admitting your mistake, that is incredibly vulnerable – especially in the workplace.
In order to learn something, we need to be able to ask questions. This, again, is vulnerable. It’s not only vulnerable because of the point made above about “not knowing”, but asking a question can also be seen as a criticism. If you are teaching a skill, and a person asks a question about something that you think you explained clearly, you could (I don’t recommend it, but you could) take that question as a criticism of your teaching. Therefore, if someone doesn’t know you well enough to know how you might react in a given situation, asking a question and opening themselves up to that misunderstanding can feel vulnerable.
If you want your employees to be open to learning new skills, to ask questions, and to make the mistakes that will bring them closer to mastery, then you need to create an environment where it is safe to be vulnerable. More than that – you need to create an environment where it feels safe to be vulnerable. It’s not enough for you to know that you wouldn’t judge someone for asking a question – you need to preemptively make that clear to your employees.
What do you do to create a safe learning environment for your employees? If you haven’t thought about it before, what might you try? Let me know in the comments!