Rage Against the Machine: Organizational Courage & Psychological Safety

This 16-minute panel episode of Signals explores the critical intersection of organizational courage and psychological safety with guest Angela Cheng-Cimini, CHRO at Chronicle of Philanthropy. Host Jeremy Ames dives deep into why courage is the missing corollary to psychological safety—and why it matters for leaders, employees, and organizations navigating transformation. Key Takeaways Psychological safety ≠ “say anything” — it’s about risk-taking without fear of judgment. Courage is the individual’s responsibility; a safe environment isn’t enough without action. Leaders must model courage; employees rarely leapfrog leadership in risk-taking. Organizational courage should be an evergreen skill, not a crisis-only tool. Bottom-up change is possible but requires intention, respect, and sometimes personal risk. Courage done right is intentional, compassionate, and tied to organizational health. Important Time Stamps 00:30 — Why Jeremy chose Rage Against the Machine as the episode theme 02:00 — Angela on the corollary of psychological safety and courage 04:15 — Defining psychological safety vs. the misconception of “no rules” 06:40 — Courage as the next step: swim lesson metaphor 09:30 — Leaders modeling courage and bottom-up change dynamics 12:10 — Timing courage: when to push for change 14:00 — Courage as an evergreen capability organizational courage, psychological safety, leaders, employees, environment, risk, change, speak up, transformation, agency