Your silence is the answer.
My husband recently told me about a story from years ago. He and a colleague were in a meeting with their CEO, and the CEO asked for ideas on something they were working through. The colleague shared one—nothing dramatic, just an idea.
And the CEO didn’t respond at all. Just moved on to the next person.
Then Chris shared an idea, and the CEO said, “That’s interesting. Go pursue that.”
Later, his colleague pulled him aside. “Why didn’t he respond to me?”
Chris had been there long enough to know the pattern. “When he doesn’t respond, it means he thinks it’s a stupid idea.” (Chris also doesn’t have a filter.)
That colleague never shared another idea again. Not once, in all the years they continued working together. Not because of the truth my husband shared with him, but because of how the CEO (didn’t) respond.
One moment. One non-response. Years of contribution lost.
This wasn’t a dramatic blowup or a public humiliation. It was just silence. But that silence communicated everything that person needed to know about whether it was safe to think out loud in that room.
The CEO probably has no memory of this moment. But the company lost something real—ideas that could have mattered, perspectives that might have changed outcomes, contributions that stayed locked inside because someone quickly assessed that this wasn’t a safe environment for them.
We talk about psychological safety like it’s this abstract HR concept. But it’s concrete. It shows up in how we respond when someone takes the risk of sharing something half-formed.
A dismissive silence isn’t neutral. It’s an answer. And people hear it loud and clear.
What is your silence saying?
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