Is Your Leadership Intensity Costing You Psychological Safety?
ATTENTION (some) BUSINESS OWNERS!
If you own a business, I’d like to introduce you to a leadership blind spot you might have; Intensity.
And like most blind spots there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that intensity gets you results. Your drive propels you when others might stop. It convinces your brain you don’t need sleep, food or comfort. It energizes you when you should be tired, it solves difficult problems and it makes your enemies run in the opposite direction.
The bad news?
Your leadership may be undermining psychological safety—to the point that you’re scaring your people enough to make them want to join those competitors in retreat.
You may think you’re creating a safe environment, but think again. In your mind, you’re being a normal and good leader. You have an open door policy, you tell everyone, “Hello,” you might even memorize the names of your team’s kids, but the experience your people are having is likely altogether different.
What they’re up against every day is dodging your “support” and other forms of “helpful suggestions.” Your voice says, “How can I help?”, but the look in your eyes says, “If you mess up my business, I will destroy you!”
See if this scenario feels familiar:
You take a rare vacation for a week—but you struggle to relax because you believe your team can’t function without your leadership oversight. This is common in founder-led organizations where control and responsibility feel inseparable.
Meanwhile, back at the office, your people are finally free to get things done. They feel productive because you’re not there to intimidate or micromanage them.
Of course, there’s a small chance this isn’t happening in your business. But I’ve seen this leadership pattern play out many, many times. My executive coaching clients often shake their heads in disbelief when they recognize themselves in it.
This isn’t about caring less about your business. That would be like telling you to care less about your children—not going to happen.
Keep feeding your passion into your work. That enthusiasm is good. At its core, it’s infectious and often the reason your company exists in the first place.
But here’s what you need to understand: for most of your people, this is just their job. Even with strong leadership, employees typically care 50–75% as much as the business owner.
Think back to your own professional experience before you owned a business. You probably cared deeply about your performance and reputation—but how much accountability did you actually tie to the organization or its founder?
Now, in your own company, even your best employees are thinking about many things besides work while they’re at work. They’re on their phones. Worrying about their kids. Sitting in too many meetings. Socializing. Simply trying to get through the day.
Yes, you may have one or two team members who are fiercely loyal—who give 100% and would jump on a grenade for you. But that level of commitment is uncommon, rarely sustainable, and even if it exists for a few, what will you do with the rest of your team?
So what’s the solution?
Start by discovering how your leadership is actually experienced.
Initiate an internal leadership assessment or discovery process. Use tools like 360-degree feedback, confidential surveys, or one-on-one interviews to understand the real impact of your leadership presence.
Ask:
What do they think?
How do they feel?
How are you affecting their performance, motivation, and sense of safety?
These insights are gold.
If you haven’t done this, you don’t fully know how to communicate with your team, align with them, motivate them, or inspire them.
You don’t yet know how to lead them effectively.
I promise.
Do this—and do it now.
You’ll also be well on your way to having a work environment that feels safe.
Ready to explore how authentic appreciation fuels breakthrough leadership, strengthens organizational culture, and drives business transformation? Share your appreciation story with us.
Fundamental of the Week #6: CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
Both physical and emotional safety are important. Safety means it's okay to speak up or try new ideas without fear of blame; Innovation thrives in a safe environment.
Momentum Consulting offers executive business coaching, top-level executive consulting, team training, and team off-sites to build and transform your business to the next level. Inquire about business consulting and leadership coaching today.
