With half of workers experiencing incivility at work, these outcomes represent are very real, very significant costs for the organization, which highlights the need for psychological safety at work.

Timothy R. Clark, author of “The Four Stages of Psychological Safety,” provides an easily digestible guide for understanding and, more importantly, implementing a culture of psychological safety in any organization. Clark draws not only on his impressive research experience, but also his own personal experiences in consulting and manufacturing organizations, and even as a first-team AcademicAll-American college football player.

Clark argues that the foundational levels of psychological safety are a human right, not earned, but owed.

How can managers create teams that engage their employees and empower them to perform at the highest levels?

Patrick Lencioni, author of the classic leadership fable, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," has developed a formula for not only diagnosing the obstacles that inhibit organizational performance, but also providing the strategies that will propel teams to perform at the highest levels.

"Recognition is about improving performance and focuses on what is good for the company. Appreciation emphasizes what is good for the company and good for the person (which may sometimes mean helping them find a position that is better for them than their current role," (Chapman & White, p. 20).

Recognition is about the value of a person’s behavior, but appreciation is about the value of the person.

In their book, "The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace," Gary Chapman and Paul White articulate that each of us has our own primary and secondary languages of appreciation. When others communicate our value through our primary or secondary languages, we feel valued. When those types of messages are repeatedly sent outside of our primary and secondary languages, we will not feel valued.

By focusing on the benefits for a few people who are in positions of power, finite-minded practices can have significant negative impacts on trust, collaboration, and creativity, as well as performance and productivity in the long term.

The choice to lead with an infinite mindset, however, demonstrates a commitment to taking care of the organization’s people and focusing on the organization’s vision for the future.

For more than 80 years, Gallup has been studying what makes “a great life.” For most of that time, people wanted the basic necessities of safety, food, and shelter, followed by having a family and owning a home, which colloquially became known as “the American Dream.” Now, having a good job has become a higher priority than anything other than every human being’s basic necessities.

However, having a “great job” is truly transformational.