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Women's History Month:
Celebrating the Brave and Inspirational Women of Yesterday and Today
While everyone is working to create a better culture and workplace – a safe space, which I do believe is critical and necessary – when I think of the women who inspire us, I don’t necessarily think they are usually in a safe space. It is as if they must create that safe space in themselves and bring it with them into the room.
What is a safe space?
There is so much discussion these days on psychological safety and the ability to create safe spaces in the work environment. There are differing views on when the term was popularized, although it was often defined with the development of “sensitivity training,” the women’s movement, gay and lesbian bars, and other activist organizations in the 1960s and 70s. Popularized by organizational behavioral scientist Amy Edmondson of Harvard, safe spaces are critical whenever people face uncertainty and interdependence. These are words that many of our teams face every day working in electronic transactions and payments.
Psychological safety is a critical component of creating the collaborative, supportive environment that people need to foster an atmosphere of belonging, building upon open and honest communication. It allows us to share ourselves, our identities and ideas in a space without the fear of judgment, punishment or even the vast amount of microaggressions. Organizations around the world are working to create safe spaces to ensure people are comfortable to communicate, learn, perform, grow and innovate. Yet, we know discussing certain topics in the workplace can often be uncomfortable and challenging.
Read more and see which brave and inspirational women we celebrate.
