When asking a new client about her corporate culture a couple of weeks ago, she declared: “It’s not a C-Y-A culture at all!”
I bet you might know what she was referring to, but I admit that was a first for me.
I had to ask “What is C-Y-A?”
The answer? Cover-Your-Ass.
That gave me a good chuckle!
First, it was refreshing to hear a client speak positively about her work culture.
And, of course, after our session I reflected on the work cultures I’ve known—the situations when I felt positive like my client, and those when a big motivation was covering my ass.
I’m curious: if you were to give a “Cover-Your-Ass” score from one-to-ten for your organization or team today, what would your answer be?
Reasons why organizations or teams are stuck in a C-Y-A culture may be many, but I propose it often boils down to whether people feel psychologically safe—or not.
That’s why I find this excellent book, The Four Stages of Psychological Safety by Timothy R. Clark, such an important resource to help recognize and transform C-Y-A culture.
Clark defines psychological safety as “a condition in which you feel (1) included, (2) safe to learn, (3) safe to contribute, and (4) safe to challenge the status quo—all without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in some way.”
Clark claims psychological safety depends on two main factors: respect, and permission. To the extent each of these are granted, trust can grow and people can feel more confident to be and do their best.
Addressing C-Y-A culture is scary territory for many (if not all?) people. We humans carry a lot of wounding here. Creating an environment to counter this fear and release peoples’ full potential to the organization’s benefit requires a strong commitment.
And like so many attributes of organizational culture, I believe ensuring psychological safety must begin at the top—with the leader.
How can a leader start?
This may sound like a truism, but it’s really true: a leader must be committed to their own growth!
This means facing their own shadows, biases, and fears around trust, respect, and permission—and finding, claiming, and commanding their safety and resilience from within.
And, from that authentic place, taking these concrete organizational steps:
1. Ensure trust and psychological safety are built into the values of the organization.
2. Sponsor continued investment in workforce development to reinforce trust-building behavior.
3. Design policies and procedures that support psychological safety.
4. Maintain dialogue with all levels of the organization to monitor and assess implementation.
5. Persevere with optimism and patience…creating psychological safety is big work!
How is this discussion stimulating your thoughts on championing psychological safety in your workplace?
What do you need to have your team declare “It’s not a C-Y-A culture at all!”?
Yours on the journey,
Martha