Ann Rubæk-Nielsen has worked in the municipal sector within children and youth services for 25 years and has been a leader of leaders for 15 years.

Ann Rubæk-Nielsen begins emphatically: “We’re all human. Psychological safety is a crucial component of leadership, so that you can carry out the core tasks you were placed in the world to do. I need to dare to be myself, because then I also dare to contribute to tasks where I might have to stretch a bit to be able to solve them. To dare to put yourself out there, even if you don’t yet have all the answers.”

Ann Rubæk-Nielsen continues: “We live in a time where it is difficult to attract and retain employees, so it is crucial that those who are here want to stay a little longer as good colleagues and sparring partners. Sometimes we have to make decisions about some of the most difficult matters – for example, having to remove a child through compulsory measures. That requires that we are all fully engaged in the task, and that we have psychological safety in order to be able to do it.”

Ann Rubæk-Nielsen emphasizes how important it is to have influence, to be listened to with curiosity, to be met as a human being, and to be met with understanding and care – in other words, the importance of a shared mindset of care to build trust, give constructive and compassionate feedback, and accept that it’s okay not to know everything.

“Creating psychological safety is work we all share. We must keep it on the agenda, cultivate it, and strengthen it. It doesn’t happen on its own! And we do it together,” concludes Ann Rubæk-Nielsen, with both seriousness and care in her voice.