Who creates psychological safety for the leader?

A team has a leader to whom people can bring complexity. The leader often has no place to bring their own.

This is especially true after a promotion or an expansion of the role. Leaders are expected to remain calm, make clear decisions, support the team, and deliver results. Admitting that the workload no longer fits into the working day can feel like admitting personal inadequacy, so the leader keeps up appearances and stays silent.

When a leader does not feel psychologically safe

A study of 1,160 managers from different countries found that middle managers feel less psychologically safe than both their direct reports and C-level leaders. They find it harder to admit mistakes, raise uncomfortable questions, and speak about a problem before it becomes obvious to everyone.

Two other studies show what can happen next. In a sample of 242 managers, role overload was associated with anxiety at work, which in turn was associated with resistance to change. In a Canadian organization, managers' emotional exhaustion was associated with more detached behavior, lower psychological safety in the team, and reduced readiness for change.

What overload looks like to the team

An overloaded leader does not always start controlling everyone more closely. Sometimes they gradually disappear from management: postponing one-to-ones, engaging less in difficult conversations, and focusing on urgent operational tasks. The team may interpret this as indifference, weakness, or an absence of leadership.

I would be very cautious about calling such a leader weak or resistant. We may be looking at a strong person who has carried more than their authority, support, and own condition allowed for too long.

But who creates safety for the leader?

Leaders are expected to create psychological safety for their teams. But who creates it for the leaders themselves?

In Leadership Performance Mentoring, we work with real management situations: decisions that keep being postponed, conversations for which there is no internal capacity left, and responsibilities that no longer fit within the role. Together, we determine where the leader needs to regain influence, where the management approach needs to be rebuilt, and where a conversation with the company about authority and support should begin.

If this sounds familiar and you would like to understand how this work is structured, write to me. I will explain the format and where we can begin.