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What makes it possible for someone to admit a mistake at work?

In this Other Voices episode of The Well-Led Podcast, Stephanie Lemek and Dr. Benjamin Ritter explore how psychological safety shapes the employee experience. Stephanie explains why leaders create safety by acknowledging their own mistakes, uncertainty, and imperfection. Benjamin considers the relationship between a supportive environment and the responsibility each person holds for exercising self-leadership.

Together, their reflections show that psychological safety is more than avoiding conflict or telling people it is okay to fail. It allows people to speak candidly, take risks, ask questions, learn, contribute ideas, and work toward shared goals.

You’ll learn:

  • How physical, financial, and psychological safety affect employees
  • Why leaders need to demonstrate—not merely declare—that mistakes are acceptable
  • How psychologically unsafe cultures impose an extra tax on productive work
  • Why safety supports creativity, learning, and collaboration
  • How self-leadership can help people recognize and use the choices within their control

If you would like practical tools that accompany conversations like this one, you can request the current free leadership toolkit at https://www.one23ltd.com/toolkits Subscribers to the onetwentythree ltd newsletter receive these resources automatically each month.


Guest Information, listed alphabetically

Stephanie Lemek is the Founder & CEO of The Wounded Workforce®, a consultancy reshaping how employers approach mental health, trauma, and resilience at work. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of The Wounded Workforce's Center for Construction Mental Health™. Stephanie is a nationally recognized speaker and trusted advisor on trauma-informed leadership, bringing together research, practical strategy, and deep organizational insight to help leaders, HR, and frontline teams move from well-meaning to well-equipped.

Dr. Benjamin Ritter is an executive leadership coach and keynote speaker based in Austin, Texas. For more than 15 years he has coached senior leaders at companies including Amazon, Google, DoorDash, Mayo Clinic, Pinterest, Coursera, Northwestern, and the CDC, along with next-generation leaders inside family-owned operating companies. He is the author of the Amazon best-seller Becoming Fearless, and The Uncrowned CEO, founder of Live for Yourself Consulting, and host of The Executive and Live Fearlessly podcasts.


Key takeaways

  • Safety is foundational. When people do not feel safe, it becomes difficult to direct their attention and energy toward anything else.
  • Workplace safety includes physical, financial, and psychological conditions. Each influences whether employees can work, grow, and contribute fully.
  • Leaders create psychological safety before someone needs it. Their everyday responses to mistakes, uncertainty, and imperfection establish what is genuinely acceptable.
  • A lack of psychological safety drains energy from productive work. Employees spend time managing perceptions, rehearsing conversations, withholding questions, and navigating workplace politics.
  • Leaders influence safety, but individuals retain some agency. Self-leadership can help employees move from blame toward clarity, responsibility, and constructive action.


Timestamps

00:05 Safety as a leadership skill

01:52 Stephanie on three forms of safety

10:59 Benjamin on safety and self-leadership

16:28 Closing reflections and resources


Keywords

psychological safety at work, safety in leadership, how leaders create psychological safety, admitting mistakes at work, workplace culture, leadership vulnerability, employee trust, physical safety, financial safety, self-leadership, personal responsibility, employee engagement, workplace burnout, creativity at work, authentic leadership

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