Psychological safety is a bedrock for all great improvisational teams. It is the foundation of trust, openness, unconditional support, vulnerability, and a celebration of diversity. As a consultant, I create psychological safety in organizations. However, I wanted a greater understanding of how it links to resilience. So, I connected with Doug Hensch, an amazing leadership coach who specializes in resilience. He is such an expert in this field that he wrote the book on resilience, literally! (“Positively Resilient: 5 ½ Secrets to Beat Stress, Overcome Obstacles, and Defeat Anxiety”)

Bob Kulhan: Okay Doug, there are many riddles leaders need to solve to imbed resilience in employees as they successfully attempt to bring them back to the office. Why do leaders have to even think about this?

Doug Hensch: This is a great question! First, let me say that I do believe optimism can play a very positive role (pun intended!) in leading people through challenging times. The ‘brand’ of optimism that I recommend is ‘realistic optimism.’ When leaders are realistically optimistic, they build trust. It’s important for employees to hear the truth without the sugar coating. I can hear the best leaders saying something like, “Hey, there are more tough times ahead. I don’t have all the answers, AND I know that, working together, we will make the best of this.”

Kulhan: Change is an inevitability; so why are so many employees resistant to this change?

Hensch: “This” change? How about EVERY change?! Ok, almost every change…We like predictability, on average, more than we like change. It makes sense. If I had to guess every morning what I would be doing, where I would be going, who I would be working with and whether my job existed, I’d be a wreck. It’s been just over a year and so many employees have figured out how to work from home, effectively. They may be enjoying the time spent NOT commuting and getting in a quick workout on most days. Leaders may need to brace themselves for some difficult decisions. My advice is to offer up organizational changes as experiments. Let your employees know that your goal is to do what is best for the business AND (there’s that word, again!) your employees. Make a commitment to evaluate the changes to work routines and policies. Seek input and have a process in place for evaluating your situation.

Kulhan: What part does humor & laughter play in resilience?

Hensch: Is that a joke coming from Mr. Business Improv!!?? It can play a pretty big role. On the biological level, laughing reduces stress by lowering cortisol levels, increases trust by releasing oxytocin and increases pleasure by delivering endorphins. This little ‘cocktail’ of chemicals in our system is just about the best medicine you could give yourself (and others) during these difficult times. When it comes to stress, we’ve been on high alert for over a year. Humans are built for moments of stress, and cortisol courses through our veins for hours as we worry about our jobs, going back into the office, and how often we’ll need to get vaccinated. Trust is the oxygen of any great, goal-driven team. We need to challenge each other’s ideas, and without trust the challenges turn into personality conflicts and distrust. When we laugh with others we demonstrate vulnerability, which grows trust. Finally, research shows that we’re actually more open-minded when we experience emotions such as humor. Endorphins can broaden our view of the world and expand our repertoire of behaviors. And that’s no joke!

Kulhan: How can leaders create psychological safety for humor, laughter, bonding, and resilience?

Hensch: This is one of my favorite topics. Success in today’s world – business and personal – requires different viewpoints, ideas, and opinions. The old leadership model where the leader is the smartest person with all the right answers is obsolete. The world is changing so fast and so dramatically that leaders must invest in their ability to collaborate on decisions and solving problems. Psychological Safety (the condition that exists when people are not afraid to share their opinions, beliefs, and ideas) is a must-have. The first thing leaders can do is make it known that people will not be punished or ridiculed for speaking their minds and being themselves. Then, it can be incredibly helpful to share your own mistakes and bad ideas. Demonstrating this vulnerability gives employees more confidence that it is safe to speak their minds. Another tip that I have seen go a long way is to simply go around the room asking people for their opinions. Pay attention to who is speaking and who isn’t. Consider something like, “Hey Bob, we haven’t heard from you on this. What would you like to add?” Sometimes, all Bob needs is a little nudge…

Kulhan: I love it. You are essentially describing the ability to harness the power of people to gain multiple, unique perspectives for clarity so that you can find the best, overall solutions.

Creating a safe space for employees to share is one thing. Employees may be apprehensive, however. They may need to be nudged into being vulnerable. How can leaders help employees navigate these difficult times?

Hensch: Sometimes, it’s good to treat the symptoms and sometimes, we’re better off looking for the cause. When we treat the symptoms, leaders may offer a two-hour resilience webinar that teaches basic mindfulness skills, for instance. These are life skills that can help you in a variety of situations, and a one-off webinar might be just what is needed.

The other approach is to figure out the root cause of the stress, fatigue, anxiety, being overwhelmed, etc. For one client of mine experiencing all the above, I asked her to look at her calendar and rate how important it was that she attend the meetings on her calendar. It turns out that, on average, she was attending eight one-hour meetings each week where her attendance was not necessary or even beneficial. (She subsequently declined these meetings and got an entire 8-hour day back!)

It’s not always that people aren’t motivated to develop effective agendas or ask for what they need in the ‘right’ way. They often don’t know HOW to do these things. Leaders must get curious about the root causes of stress, anxiety, and fatigue, and provide base training for support in stress areas like running effective meetings, communication and collaboration, trust and relationship building, difficult conversations, and creating mutual accountability.

Kulhan: What is something that you realized over the last year and a half that might help others build resilience?

Hensch: Actually, your book and our fun conversation on my podcast “Looking For And” taught me that the great improv phrase “Yes, and…” is not just for comedy. It helped me realize that having a sense of humor, being in the moment, giving people your full attention, and being open to what is being offered opens you up to more creative solutions to big and small problems alike. Do not discount the power of a good laugh or a thoughtful conversation with a colleague.

Doug hit it right on the head: in a world of anxiety and stressful change, optimism, psychological safety, and humor are the keys to resilience. Leaders have an opportunity to design a clear path to psychological safety – virtual, on-site or hybrid. This is an investment in people, an organization’s greatest resource.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.