Safe Enough to Soar: Accelerating Trust, Inclusion & Collaboration in the Workplace - Softcover

Miller, Frederick A.; Katz, Judith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1523098058 ISBN 13: 9781523098057

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018

Synopsis

Some organizations pay a great deal of attention to ensuring the physical safety of their team members, but do the team members feel safe enough to speak up and raise tough concerns or share bold and still-in-formation ideas? In this book, bestselling authors and inclusion experts Frederick A. Miller and Judith H. Katz introduce the concept of "interaction safety" and demonstrate how it can help create a work environment of trust, inclusion, and collaboration.

Interaction safety encourages reasonable risk-taking and inspires every individual to be brave enough to reach for higher goals and more ambitious possibilities. When interaction safety exists, people know they will not be penalized, ostracized, demoted, made small, discounted, or shunned because of their thoughts, contributions, and conversations. Individuals feel encouraged and empowered and can achieve more together than they would alone.

Miller and Katz provide a four-level model for assessing and increasing the interaction safety in organizations, illustrated by short scenarios taken from real-life situations. They offer concrete actions team members, leaders, and organizations can take to build and maintain a productive, collaborative, and innovative environment in which people do their best work individually and collectively.

When interaction safety is a way of life, the energy people used to spend walking on eggshells, trying to get their ideas heard, navigating minefields, or avoiding those they distrust can instead be put toward doing their best work and winning bigger for the organization. With a culture of openness and true collaboration, both the organization and individuals can soar!

About this title

About the Author

Frederick A. Miller, CEO, and Judith H. Katz, executive vice president, of the Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc., are the coauthors of The Inclusion Breakthrough, Be BIG, and Opening Doors to Teamwork and Collaboration. They have each been honored with several of their field's most distinguished awards. They have both received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Organization Development Network (ODN), and Miller has also received the Winds of Change Award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion. Katz has also received ODN's Outstanding Achievement in Global Work Award and Communicating OD Knowledge Award, as well as the Cultural Competency Award from Diversity Training University International. Miller has served on Ben & Jerry's and Day & Zimmermann's corporate boards. Katz is currently a member of the Fielding Graduate University board of trustees.

From the Back Cover

When I don't feel safe...

...I know you are not getting the best out of me.

...it is harder to join, to trust, and to accept different and new ideas or people.

When interaction safety exists, I have the freedom to share my ideas. Doors to trust, collaboration, understanding, and inclusion are open. And we all can soar--reaching new levels of performance individually and collectively.

From the Inside Flap

Four Levels of Interaction Safety

* Level One: On Your Own

There is no focus on interaction safety. The organization is characterized by behaviors that range from bullying to verbal or physical harassment and abuse to less overt actions such as sarcasm, shaming, and put-downs.

* Level Two: Lip Service

There is some focus on interaction safety. The organization begins to recognize the importance of interaction safety, or at least the appearance of it, but does little to make interaction safety a cultural reality.

* Level Three: Islands of Safety

There is a great deal of focus on interaction safety. The organization is actively working to make interaction safety a cultural reality, but the practices that support it are not consistent throughout the organization.

* Level Four: Way of Life

Interaction safety is the way of life and understood as a critical factor for overall success. There is an organization-wide environment in which people are safe enough to soar and individuals, teams, and the organization reap the benefits of productivity, collaboration, innovation, and people doing their best work individually and collectively.

Edition details

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1523098058
• ISBN 13: 9781523098057
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128