The Courage to Disclose - Creating Psychological Safety at Work

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

When someone tells a colleague or manager that they’re neurodivergent or disabled, it can be one of the most vulnerable moments of their working life - especially in workplaces still learning how to build psychological safety at work.

They’re not only sharing a fact about themselves, they are offering trust.

For the person disclosing, it can feel like stepping under a spotlight.

Will they be met with understanding, or with silence? Will this change how they’re seen?

These questions are rarely spoken out loud, but they’re deeply felt.

1. Why Psychological Safety at Work Comes First

Policies set expectations. Psychological safety shapes behaviour.

It’s what allows people to show up fully without fear of judgment or consequence. It’s what turns disclosure from something to manage into something to understand.

A psychologically safe workplace doesn’t need everyone to have the same experiences; it just needs everyone to have the same permission to be human.

2. The Power of Connection

In every inclusion session, there’s a moment when identification happens:

“It’s not just me.”“Oh, I get that now.”

That’s the moment stigma starts to dissolve. When one person feels safe enough to share, it gives permission to others to be more open too.

Inclusion spreads through empathy and not policy alone.

Every time someone listens with curiosity instead of judgment, the connection deepens. Those small moments of understanding are how belonging begins.

3. Small Actions That Build Safety

You don’t need grand gestures to build psychological safety; you need consistency and care.

Start small:

• Listen first. Let the person lead the conversation at their own pace.

• Say thank you. Acknowledge the trust it takes to share something personal.

• Ask what helps. Don’t assume - collaborate.

• Model openness. When leaders share their own learning or challenges, it normalises difference.

Safety isn’t built in a single meeting but in how we show up, day after day.

4. Reflection for Leaders and Teams

• How do we respond when someone shares something personal at work?

• Do our reactions invite conversation or close it down?

• What do we do, practically, to make people feel safe being themselves?

When disclosure is met with empathy and action, people stop feeling like they’re under a spotlight and start feeling like they belong in the circle.

Takeaway

Disclosure is an act of trust.

What happens next defines your culture.