What can we learn from Gareth Southgate about psychological safety?

The England team seem different this year. They are relaxed, happy, smiling. They race inflatable unicorns on their day off. They even score goals. What were initially whispers, has now become an avalanche of memes proudly declaring that football, may finally be coming home.

Regardless of how well England do in the next round, there seems to be a consensus that this is the most likeable England team in decades.

As office workers across the land stream World Cup games on their phones or follow minute by minute updates on Twitter, their managers would do well to pay more attention to Gareth Southgate’s leadership style.

I don’t know enough about football to comment on his tactical decisions. But, one thing that I have noticed in his open and honest interviews, is a commitment to creating an environment of psychological safety. Where players are encouraged experiment, learn from failure, be open, resilient and perhaps most importantly, just be themselves.

This approach is backed up by research.

Over the course of 2 years, researchers at Google studied the question ‘What makes an effective team?’ Senior Executives were convinced that the best teams were formed from combining the best people. Yet the data did not follow this pattern. Instead, they looked at team norms and behaviour.

In high performing teams they uncovered a culture where teams felt comfortable to be open, talk honestly and had a safe space to take risks. On the other hand, in teams that performed poorly, they uncovered team leaders that panic over minor things or exert control over others.

The research identified psychological safety as the most important factor in a team’s success.

When you look at the 2018 England team, you see what looks, at least from the outside, like a supportive safe space.

In an interview with the BBC, Southgate says he is pleased the team are taking risks and learning from mistakes.

“I wanted the team to be making mistakes, because if they’re making mistakes, they’re trying things. If they want to be as good as they can be And we have to accept that there might be the odd failure. But you what might get, is the odd moment of where they have played like tonight… which is, wow.”

In an era where people expect better services and companies can no longer rely on their historic dominance. When even the likes of John Lewis are issuing profit warnings, all organisations need to innovate and build empathy with their users. This requires a test and learn mindset and employees need room to fail. Rather than exerting control on teams, managers should become leaders, where they encourage their teams to try things and solve the biggest problems that will bring the most value, but accept they’ll need to fail a few times. Many products that have become core products for the most successful companies today, such as Gmail or Ikea’s Flatpack furniture, began as small experiments.

Southgate knows what it is like to experience the pressure of playing football on a global stage. Imagine if social media had been around back in 1996. It looks like Southgate has built resilience in the team and encouraging them to take risks, knowing that only by learning from failures, do you get closer to success.

It has been reported Southgate won’t lose his job, regardless of what happens in the World Cup. The team is young and they have a long term plan. I think this is a good thing. If you are told by your boss you can’t fail, then of course, you won’t feel comfortable to take risks that could pay off long term. Instead, you will focus on managing your own impressions and making sure that you will at least appear strong, competent and in control. Psychological safety is not about just being nice or giving people a free pass. Instead, it is about handing over autonomy to a team and trusting them to focus on outcomes rather than process and outputs.

Southgate has also built bridges with the media who have been critical of him in the past. Footage shows a relaxed atmosphere in the camp, rather one of hostility with the press. He responded with diplomacy and dignity, rather than panic and anger, when a team sheet was leaked. Despite the negativity in certain newspapers, Danny Rose speaking openly about depression in an interview feels like a new era, and one that will resonate with millions of people.

The atmosphere at the camp this year is a stark contrast to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa under the management of Fabio Capello. Back then, the players had a strict regime of ‘breakfast, training, lunch, bed, dinner and bed.’ Strict curfews were in place and families were banned from the camp. There was not an inflatable unicorn in sight. But also no laughter or smiles. This was all counterproductive because there was no space for the players to experiment and fail. Capello had a cold and distant relationship with players, something more like a 1950s headteacher than a modern coach. The mood was described as sombre and players became angry and frustrated when the pressure got too much.

Social media means any player can be bombarded directly with both praise and criticism, which could take its toll on anyone. At the same time, social media means players can bypass the media and speak in their own words. Raheem Sterling has own praise for his honesty, sharing his story on The Players’ Tribune.

As many traditional newspapers seem to have misjudged the public mood, will they be disrupted by these newer sites that give a platform to the stories the fans want to read?

When Southgate was first appointed, the reaction was described as a ‘yawn of indifference’. But now people are realising that parachuting in a glitzy big name manager or seeking a magic bullet won’t actually help. Instead, it’s dedication, passion and continuous improvement.

Southgate is being open, transparent and humble. All qualities that leaders must possess in modern organisations. Faced with uncertainty and complexity, organisations need to be resilient and adapt to change. Leaders must accept what they don’t know. But you cannot do this without the right environment. If your team are not able to be honest or openly reflect on failures because you focus only on the good spin to the story, you won’t be able to encourage the test and learn that leads to innovation.