Management book / Leadership / Psychology
Date Published: May 10, 2022
Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing
Drs Lies Wouters, international organizational psychologist, advisor, trainer and team coach, based in the Netherlands, introduces her unique Metaphor Map and Metaphor Model of Psychological Safety in this, her first book published in English. She shines a new light on how all leaders across the world can use specific learnt skills to create teams where people thrive, when they understand that it is up to them to create the circumstances where people feel motivated, have fun and grow. She explains the neurobiology of our behaviour and its impact on performance, collaboration, creativity, happiness, productivity and so much more. Backed by relevant science, comprehensive research, real life examples and practical exercises this book takes you step by step through the underlying processes in your brain and body to develop the skills that ensure high performance. She reveals the significance of applying these skills in the world and how we can all play an important role in making this world better, where not only teams, but everyone can thrive.
Excerpt
The Metaphor Map
When we talk about psychological safety, we refer to the Metaphor Map of the land, a boat and water, and we ask the question, where are you? When you are on the land, you have both feet on the ground; you feel safe and comfortable. Basically, you are in your comfort zone. When you step out of your comfort zone, you get onto the boat. To step onto the boat can be exciting, but it can also be stressful. Or even both. You do something new or something very difficult. On the boat you learn new things. You can be very successful. When the project or the task turns out to be much more difficult than you thought, or when you experience a setback, you might fall out of the boat into the water. In the water is a place of overwhelm. This is a place where your brain receives a signal that you need to go into survival mode. You can no longer be as successful or creative in the water and you feel overwhelmed. Psychological safety does not mean that you remain on the land, but that you feel safe enough to get on the boat, you are not afraid to fall in the water and you have the skills to swim back to the shore. To be able to navigate is really what psychological safety is about.
About the Author
Drs. Lies Wouters is an international positive psychology expert, work and organizational psychologist, advisor, trainer and team coach, based in the Netherlands. In addition to the comprehensive research, she has conducted about happiness and resilience, she assists organizations in the areas of: mental health; optimal functioning; motivation; and positive communication. Her mission is to contribute to reducing the number of burnouts in the Netherlands by helping to make people within organizations healthier and happier; and ensuring that they thrive in psychologically safe team environments. In 2018, she published her first book in Dutch, Hoe Dan (So Then How) together with a businesswoman who wrote about how she overcame life’s struggles. In their book, Lies responds to her explaining the psychological theories of what helped and why.
Lies is the founder of her own international business, OMG! which stands for tailor-made leadership and specializes in providing leadership training and coaching. For more than ten years, Lies and her team of fellow experts have been facilitating online and onsite leaders and professionals with business related workshops. Their work is underpinned by their professional knowledge that each individual is unique and each organization is unique. Thus, they only deliver custom work.
Lies is PhD student at the Open University in the Netherlands where she is researching the topic of psychological safety. The title “Drs” stands for doctorandus which is Latin for he/she/they who should become a doctor. Her first article about psychological safety will be published in the spring of 2022. When Lies is not pursuing her professional career and helping other people to thrive at work, she loves to spend time with her husband and two children. She enjoys being outside in nature at all times of the year. She also loves dancing and enjoying good, healthy food with family and friends.
Contact Links
Email: lies.wouters@omgadvies.nl
