How to Speak Up When It Matters

Speaking up is hard to do.

You see something ethically questionable. Notice someone not being included. Run up against offensive speech. Disagree with an opinion that’s all too quickly become consensus. Want to add a different idea to the decision-making process.

While we’d all like to think that if we saw something, we’d say something in these situations, we are strikingly bad at anticipating how we’ll feel in future circumstances and, for a whole host of cognitive reasons, it can be incredibly difficult to speak up in the moment. In fact, research suggests that most people tend to not act, and then rationalize their inaction.

But you’re not really doing your job — as a diligent employee, compassionate colleague, or thoughtful leader — if you don’t lend your voice to the conversation. So what can you do?

Read the full article @ Harvard Business Review
Image CC Howard Lake

One Reply to “How to Speak Up When It Matters”

  1. One idea I have heard is to at least write it down afterward.
    I saw “this” and it was wrong and I felt “something” and I could have “said this or done that”. So that next time you have a possible action. So you are at least more likely to do something positive next time.
    Because it really is a multistep process: you have to recognize that something racist/sexist/bad has happened, assess the situation, and then think of something to say. Sometimes the thing can be “excuse me, I’m not sure I heard what you said”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *