Ann Betz: Psychological Safety in the Workplace  

On episode twenty-six of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Ann Betz, CPCC, PCC, MNTC, the co-founder of BEabove Leadership and an international speaker and trainer at the intersection of neuroscience, coaching, and human transformation. A certified professional coach with more than twenty years in the industry, a published author and poet, and a researcher, Ann integrates her passion for the brain and consciousness with her interest in spirituality. Clients and students alike laud her for making the complexities of the brain come to life with depth, humor, and clarity. In our recent interview Ann describes how to identify a work environment that lacks psychological safety. She says, “What is the pattern? The pattern will tell you a lot, and then your body will tell you a lot. But you’ve got to map it to the pattern.” Ann talks about the negative impact of a psychologically unsafe work environment on performance. She says, “We're not designed to think carefully when we're in a fight-or-flight and/or freeze situation. We're designed to move. We’re designed to do what is necessary to survive. So, by design, our brains get blocked a bit so that we can do what's critically necessary for survival and not higher-level thinking. You lose the ability to think abstractly, and so you get less creativity. You get less empathic. You get less of the ability to make good decisions. That's the brain impact. In the body, you're draining your adrenal glands. Cortisol is shutting down your immune function. There are all sorts of things like that that basically say you're making yourself sick. And so, in organizations that have a high level of stress and a toxic culture what you will find is 1) more absenteeism, 2) more presenteeism—because when people can't think they don't work as effectively—and 3) higher healthcare costs.” Ann describes how to identify narcissistic behaviors by using the acronym CRAVED. She says that one way to assess if someone has those characteristics is by asking yourself the following questions: “Are they typically and habitually (C)onflictual. Are they (R)igid? Are they (A)ntagonistic? Do they pick fights? Are they (V)indictive? Do they act like a victim? Are they (E)ntitled? Are they (D)ysregulated? So, can they not regulate their own emotions?”Ann closes by giving us one way to positively impact a work culture. She says, “Really celebrate the integrated leader. Celebrate the leader that understands both how to get results, but also how to care for their people and really celebrate both and really keep focusing on that.” To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com