INTER-RELATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, COURAGE AND VULNERNABILITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Abstract

This paper integrates the theories and findings of three emerging concepts psychological safety, courage, and vulnerability and their inter relation in the workplace and organization, topically and applications, is of major importance for leaders, HR professionals, engineering, IT companies and change agents. Psychological safety refers to the situation wherein one can express their views without the fear of getting judged, Courage refers to the way one responds to their fears and overcome them, lastly, Vulnerability is the willingness to expose oneself to a threat or uncertainty. All these three concepts are related to one another. Each of these concepts contributes to the existence of the other. A working definition of these concepts are provided in this paper along with an empirical research that has focused on understanding the essence of psychological safety, courage, and vulnerability, contributing factors, and exploring its consequences for individuals, teams, and organizations. The ways through which these are implemented or can be implemented in the organization are also included in this paper. The concluding part gives a speculative discussion for future policy makers. This paper highlights a conceptual framework which is based on theory and is used to highlight the relationship between the said factors in the workplace and further to understand the implications of these factors in an organization.