What keeps you from speaking up or asking questions? Why does staying silent seem like the better option? At LinkedIn’s Talent Connect in October, Susan David, Ph.D. mentioned that, “Courage is the ability to hold fear in one hand and your values in the other.” Over the past few months, I’ve read articles and have learned in conferences that about half of your workforce lacks the courage to raise topics and questions that could have a signifcant NEGATIVE impact to your business, admit they don’t understand something, or pretend they have a skill they do not have. 👉 The lack of speaking up is a huge business risk that is impacting your organization’s success. And this behavior is mostly driven by fear of how people think they will be perceived! No one wants to be labelled as intimidating or difficult or not capable! “Quiet, deployed strategically, is a powerful tool. Discernment, timing, and restraint are genuine leadership skills. The problem is when quiet becomes a default rather than a choice: a cover for fear, for courtesy, for the desire to avoid being labeled as a lot.” Thank you, Nell 3D [Derick Debevoise Dewey], for writing this article. It’s always lovely to see names of friends and colleagues in my weekly news catch up 🙂, and this is a topic that I believe is a detriment to organizations that no one is addressing. 👉 As you emphasize in the article, people will fill the silence with their own stories and a-has, from either learning that speaking up and asking questions is not supported to becoming tragically positive to feeling defeated or angry or sad. 👉In addition, this silence prevents productive disagreements from happening. Conversations for everyone to discuss the viewpoints so the best solution can be identified. When only one person speaks or dictates, they may be missing context that would change how something is done. I could not be successful if my team didn’t raise concerns or questions or challenge me and my thinking. “…the Financial Times' Andrew Hill observed a similar phenomenon at Davos: a marked muting of corporate executives on topics they had spoken freely about just twelve months earlier. His assessment was blunt: ‘fear and silence impose hidden costs.’” 👉Think about when you didn’t speak up or asked the question. What was the impact of the silence to the business, your team, and YOU? What were the hidden costs that are now having visible impacts? https://lnkd.in/g4eUFJxr
To me, this is part of the genius of Crucial Conversations training. It helps to build the courage to speak up, avoid silence (and verbal violence too!) and navigate the conversation skillfully. Perception is such a powerful motivator - or demotivator.
I’m so glad this landed with you, Lan Tran , and I love that definition of courage too. Thank you for being a leader who not only shows these strengths, but models and teaches others to do the same.
This really resonates. I naturally ask a lot of questions, and sometimes I hesitate, wondering whether they are too basic or whether I should already know the answer. But I’ve realized that more often than not, those questions bring clarity, surface assumptions, and give others the confidence to speak up too. I’ve learned that thoughtful questions are rarely a weakness. Silence, however, can be. Thank you for spotlighting something that truly shapes both culture and business outcomes.