I’m not someone who follows football closely, but two very different experiences taught me something unexpected about leadership: the England squad’s approach during Euro 2024 — and James Graham’s play Dear England, first produced at the National Theatre.
Theatre has a remarkable way of giving us new language for ideas we think we already understand. Dear England did this brilliantly. It dramatized not only tactics and training, but the emotional culture surrounding English football, showing how Gareth Southgate reshaped a team defined by pressure and past failures into one grounded in belief, vulnerability and connection.
Then I learned about a real-world ritual adopted by the England team during the Euro 2024 campaign: after a player took a penalty (one of the loneliest, highest-pressure moments in sport) a teammate would walk out to meet them immediately afterward.
It is such a simple gesture. Yet it communicates everything:
You’re not alone. You’re not defined by this one moment. And no matter what happens, we’ve got you.
That is psychological safety.
On the pitch.
In rehearsal rooms.
And, importantly, in our workplaces.
Just as Dear England explored the emotional landscape behind high performance and national expectation, the England squad’s contemporary “buddy walk-out” turned those themes into tangible action. From football to theatre to our own teams, the message is the same: high performance grows from trust, not fear.
Theatre helps us understand how culture shapes performance
Theatre often holds up a mirror to the ways we work. Dear England showed us that lasting change requires leaders to shift culture, not just strategy. Southgate didn’t only coach skill — he coached emotional permission: the freedom to fail, to learn, to try again and to grow.
Art teaches us that vulnerability is part of excellence. Characters evolve when they confront uncertainty. Creative breakthroughs happen when artists feel brave enough to take risks. Rehearsal rooms thrive on experimentation, curiosity and openness.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that workplaces benefit from the same conditions.
Psychological safety is not soft — it's strategic
Teams perform at their best when they feel safe to:
- ask questions,
- challenge assumptions,
- admit mistakes,
- explore new ideas, and
- take thoughtful risks.
Although it may sound gentle, psychological safety is one of the strongest predictors of team performance. It fosters clarity, resilience and collaboration — qualities that matter deeply in arts and culture organisations that juggle tight timelines, competing demands and community expectations.
Without psychological safety, people default to caution. They hold back. They avoid experimentation. They self-censor. They stay quiet when something isn’t working.
Small gestures of proactive support, like meeting someone after a high-stakes moment, make it easier for people to be brave.
Support must be proactive, not reactive
Most of us believe we are supportive colleagues. However, support is most powerful when it is proactive, not when it arrives only after someone struggles.
Ask yourself:
- Do we praise initiative, even when outcomes are imperfect?
- Do we welcome questions without making people feel unprepared?
- Do we offer help before someone feels overwhelmed?
- Do we reward thoughtful risk-taking, not just perfect execution?
Confidence grows when people know they won’t be left standing alone after a moment of pressure.
The arts give us another lesson: cultures don’t change by accident
Just as Dear England illustrated, shifting culture requires intention. Leaders must model vulnerability, welcome participation and lower the emotional cost of failure.
In creative environments — rehearsals, workshops, gallery planning, programming meetings — risk is essential. You cannot innovate without stepping into the unknown. Consequently, the health of a cultural organisation depends on creating spaces where people can test ideas without fear.
Southgate understood this. So do great artistic directors. And so must we.
How leaders can build psychological safety today
- Narrate your thinking Explain your rationale. It reduces guesswork and increases trust.
- Ask questions that open space For example: “What are we not seeing yet?” or “What would make this easier for you?”
- Celebrate experimentation Reward the thought process, not just the outcome.
- Check in early and often Support offered before a crisis is infinitely more powerful.
- Model the vulnerability you want to see When leaders show uncertainty, others gain permission to be human too.
Why this matters to us at Artifax
We support teams whose work depends on collaboration, coordination and creativity. These teams deliver extraordinary cultural experiences to audiences, but they can only achieve this when trust is strong and communication is open.
Our tools help teams operate with clarity. Yet beyond software, we believe in cultures where people can stretch, challenge, innovate and grow. Cultures where mistakes lead to learning, not fear. Cultures where people know (just as those penalty-takers did) that someone will walk out to meet them afterward.
Psychological safety isn’t a luxury. It’s the foundation for excellence. And in the arts, excellence is how we move audiences, communities and each other forward.