Safe Enough to Soar : Accelerating Trust, Inclusion and Collaboration in the Workplace

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!

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.