The tangible impact of psychological safety on team growth

In this article, Marc Fischli, Executive Managing Director for International Markets at Criteo, talks about the strong impact of psychological safety on both individual and collective growth.

To him, psychological safety is a real strategic imperative, not just a buzzword or a nice-to-have on your corporate messaging. It means finding the right way for everyone to contribute and bring their best to the table.   

Psychological safety isn't isolated from performance; it’s here to drive it. 

Our guest today is Marc Fischli, who expanded his scope and responsibilities earlier this year. What can you tell us about your new position?  

As Executive Managing Director for International Markets, it’s a vast geographical scope that I now manage – between 25 and 30 different countries - and a huge part of Criteo’s global revenue.  

My role is to bring us forward by enabling and encouraging exchanges across our International Market Business Units to ensure we work more closely and effectively when facing similar challenges or situations.  

What do you need to do well in this job? 

First, you need to really listen and learn what everyone in your team is doing and how they’re doing it.  

Secondly, you must be aware of both the similarities and diversities within the team. We all share the goal of building and maximizing growth for Criteo and our clients, and yet, we all have our own way to contribute to this ambition. Part of my job is to ensure what makes us similar and different are both celebrated equally.  

Is it challenging to manage so many different backgrounds, habits, and team dynamics?  

A certain number of challenges come with the job, but it’s also the beauty of it.  

Basically, to lead efficiently in this context you need to: 

1. Be open to seeing things through a different lens as a leader.
2. Make sure your teams, peers, and bosses are also open to seeing things differently.
3. Do things in a scalable way, when possible, to be more efficient business-wise while adjusting to what clients truly need.  

Sometimes, it can be tempting to move through the same approach everywhere, or, on the other extreme, to go with “my country's very different, so I'm not going to do it your way.” To me, the way forward stands somewhere in the middle, balancing scalability with personalization. 

What should inclusive leaders everywhere bear in mind to succeed?  

Never forget that everyone has something to contribute, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. 

More often than not, it starts with something as simple as providing different ways for people to bring their point across. We all need different things to perform at the best of our abilities; Some prefer short recaps while others need the details. Some get their best ideas during in-person interactions, while others prefer to take a step back and write down their thoughts. Making room for diversity starts by not imposing your way as the only way. 

It’s also crucial to respect people's time. It might sound dull but it’s more difficult than it seems. Me, for instance; I manage people in different time zones and sometimes, I still put meetings in European time zone at midday without remembering that it’s already 8pm in Japan. Trust me, it’s a real game changer when you start being mindful of those simple things. That’s how you ensure it’s not always the same teams who need to adapt. Even with all the good intentions in the world, I sometimes fall short of that, but I’m proud to see the people in my teams have the confidence to speak up and call me on it. It’s first evidence of the trust and healthy environment we’re building together as a team. 

And my last advice would be to lead from a place of total honesty and authenticity. No doubt your leadership will be stronger for it.  

What brought you to lead from this place of authenticity? 

Having lived abroad back in my young years has definitely served me well in my career.  

When you’re the foreigner of the group, there are some things you don’t get, and you often face situations from a place of vulnerability. You read others differently, putting yourself in their shoes more easily since you’ve been there too. That has helped me understand how one situation can be experienced very differently from one person to the next.  

I believe this knowledge has served me well as a team leader.  

What’s the mark of an inclusive leader?  

Inclusive leaders can admit to their teams when they are wrong so that the whole group can benefit and learn from it. They put collective knowledge ahead of their potentially bruised ego. By showing that they can make mistakes too, they bring others to take more risks and come forward with new ideas.  

Who's responsible for fostering and maintaining a safe workplace? 

We’re all responsible for it. Every stakeholder has a part to play. 

• The company must get the strategy right and the procedure and processes in place to provide an adequate framework. It’s the first step to foster the right culture. 
• Leaders and managers are then responsible for the lead-by-example piece we mentioned above. They must do the right thing.  
• The individual contributors who make a company’s culture by the way they behave and do business every day.  

Doing the right thing: Is it an easy thing to do as a leader? 

It’s easily said but not always easily done, no.  

Even if they rarely happen, there are some situations where you’re faced with a choice between short-term gain and more revenue or sticking to who you are and what you value as a company. I believe the right choice is always the one where you stay true to yourself and make sure you have the right culture. 

In his last interview, Antoine Mercadal (Global Employee Experience VP) shares that psychological safety is often treated is a people topic while it’s a performance one. Do you agree with him?  

It’s a strategic imperative, yes. We talk about collective success, but what consists of a collective if not individuals? It’s all interconnected.  

Take Criteo for instance; The company accounts for over 3,400 people who have expertise to share and something good to contribute. If you set the right conditions to maximize the efficiency of every single one of these 3,400 people, it’ll boost the company’s results as well as clients’.  When you provide psychological safety, you create space in people’s minds. You trade the headspace filled with doubts and uncertainty with more room for creativity and inspiration. 

When you bring together people who respect different perspectives, different international cultures, who have different ways to express themselves, who give space for everyone to perform at the best of their abilities, you maximize growth for your company. 

Is it harder to maintain the right psychological support in fast-paced environments?  

We know that fast-paced industries like ours require a high capability to adapt and change. Today, we’re using terms like Generative AI or Agentic AI that didn’t exist just a year ago. Tomorrow, it will be something else completely. The way we do business now is different from 10 but also 2 years ago. You need to be aware of this context to find the right way to guide each person in your team. Some need to have continuity to feel safe at work; others need change to thrive, and we shouldn't assume one is better than the other. 

Something to point out at that stage is that many people thrive when things change and evolve. Change doesn’t have to mean uncertainty or instability. To me, we all have different personalities, skills, and needs, and as leaders, it is our job to provide the right guidance and growth for everyone.