Your authentic self: psychological safety

Lucy Harper: Chief Executive of the Society for Applied Microbiology

As I write this article we are fast approaching the end of a year that has seen SfAM responding scientifically and operationally to the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

The pandemic is likely to be a catalyst for long-term change in many areas of SfAM’s work and we don’t yet know the full impact of these changes to the sectors in which the Society operates: among others, academia, industry research and development, scholarly publishing and the learned society sector. It has also meant the team, trustees and volunteers delivering our charitable objectives against a background of increased stress and anxiety.

Since before the pandemic, we have taken care of the wellbeing of our team and volunteers, appointing Welfare Officer positions to our Executive Committee, subcommittees and staff team (myself included) and providing those individuals with training to become Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Champions (see Microbiologist, June 2020). Our values of equality, diversity and inclusivity, collaboration to amplify impact, scientific integrity, evidence-based decision-making and political neutrality have made it easy to foster a culture of openness and support within the team and volunteers. This enables those who wish to, to talk to colleagues about the mental health challenges they face and how these are likely to affect their work.

The pandemic has brought mental health to the fore and has removed the stigma previously attached to mental health conditions. The necessary changes to our daily work

lives has affected us all differently but entering lockdown from a position of mental health awareness has facilitated our ability to respond to the challenges thrust upon us all by COVID-19.

Supporting the team

Connectivity has been central to the way we work now that we’re all working remotely. Our monthly team meetings have become weekly – with a different focus on each of our work areas: Policy, Events, Communications, Governance and Finance. Monthly one-to-one catch-up meetings have become weekly, and we have a Teams chat channel, which is busy every day. Common to all these meetings is that they begin with the question: “How are you?” opening up the opportunity to talk through any issues or problems – both at work and personally. We’ve also surveyed the team, enabling those who feel they communicate better through the written word to provide feedback or bring up issues as they feel comfortable. We are all affected by the pandemic in different ways.

Flexibility has always been important to me as Chief Executive: it’s better that the team work when they are feeling productive, and this has never been more relevant than during lockdown. As long as a team is delivering their objectives, of less concern to me is that they are tied to their home office from 09:00 to 17:00. This has been invaluable – especially to those of us with caring responsibilities and a need to balance home-schooling, for example, with productive work time.

I’ve always believed in the importance of leading by example and to that end I have been completely honest with the team about how I’m coping: letting them know when I’m struggling. I’m also open about looking after myself through the pandemic and the fact that regular running and yoga practice feature high on my list of priorities. Authenticity of leadership is a value I believe in and promote.

On World Mental Health Day, the MHFA ran the ‘My Whole Self’ campaign for workplace culture change. This campaign was originally launched in early 2020 to: ‘call on organisations to empower people to bring their ‘whole self’ to work because it’s better for mental well-being and better for business’. The CEO of MHFA said of the original campaign: “Empowering people to be their authentic self isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes good business sense. Being our whole self at work enables improved performance, boosting creativity and innovation. It builds psychological safety, deeper connections – and research shows these are a key ingredient in every successful team.”

The pandemic has inevitably meant that elements of our personal lives are now more visible to our colleagues. It also shifted the focus of MHFA’s campaign in which members of the SfAM team and volunteers participated by taking selfies and adding some words describing aspects of themselves that aren’t necessarily visible. So, from a CEO who’s also a pianist and cat-lover, I’ll sign off now and wish you all a peaceful festive season and a brighter 2021.

Your authentic self: psychological safety