You finally work up the courage to tell your boss something you are still trying to understand about yourself. They listen. They might even say, “I appreciate you trusting me with this.” Then they tell someone else. 

In this solo episode of Work Unscripted, Marlo Lyons talks about one of the most damaging leadership failures: creating a safe space, then failing to hold it.

Psychological safety at work has two parts: inviting honest conversations and protecting what an employee trusted you with after the door closes. Many leaders do the first and forget the second. 

Marlo shares a personal story about how a secondhand comment from one leader to another created a narrative she never wrote, and why leaders need to understand the real cost of casually sharing vulnerable information about employees.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why psychological safety has two parts: creating the space and holding the space
• How leaders break trust when they share employee information out of context
• Why good intentions do not erase the impact of broken confidentiality
• How secondhand comments can shape an employee’s reputation and career
• Why leaders are stewards of an employee’s story, not owners of it
• What to do when a legitimate concern about an employee needs to be shared
• Why broken trust can hit neurodivergent employees especially hard
• What leaders owe employees who trust them with vulnerable conversations

If you lead people, this episode is a reminder that what is said behind a closed door shouldn’t casually leave that room. The question isn’t whether your team feels comfortable coming to you. The question is whether you are actually safe.

Connect with Marlo Website | LinkedIn | Instagram 
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Work Unscripted is produced by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.