How to Build a Team Where People Feel Safe to Speak Up

3 ways to create psychological safety

👋 Hey, Carlos here! Welcome to “The Holistic Leader”, your weekly source of simple and honest leadership, Agile, Management & team insights.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been in a meeting where no one speaks up?

You ask for ideas.
You ask for feedback.
You ask if anyone has questions.

Silence.

But later, you hear that outside of the meeting, the team is full of ideas, laughing, and talking openly.

That happened to me. (Many times and in many teams)

A team lead once told me:
"Carlos, after the retrospective, the team had a meeting without you.

Me: and?

Team Lead: They’re relaxed, they laugh, share ideas, and talk about everything they didn’t say before.

At first, that stung. But then I realized something important:

Not everyone feels safe speaking up in front of their leader or Manager —and that’s okay.

It doesn’t mean the team is broken. It doesn’t mean people don’t care.
It means there’s work to do.

As leaders, we have to understand that silence isn’t the absence of ideas—it’s the abs…