Can you remember a day where you felt unheard? How about a day where you knew that if you could speak up to members of your organization from leaders to coworkers, you would? An article written by Ron Ashkenas a coauther on the Harvard Business Review Leader’s Handbook and Partner Emeritus at Schaffer Consulting stated, “Speaking up takes confidence, candor, and courage”. However, how often are you applauded for addressing your emotions, feelings, and thoughts that you share at work? Ashkenas goes on to explain that this disconnect between what is expected versus what is assumed to be expected causes members to feel unappreciated, unseen, and dissatisfied with their quality of work. This is due to an organization’s culture on promoting candor and the acceptance of candor from all its members. Moreover, managers and leader’s reactions to candor or assumed reactions has led to members inability and unwillingness to speak up when frustrated or upset. Subordinates are not expected to feel empowered without leadership supporting the application of open dialogue in the workplace. Subordinates are expected to justify their commitment by following a leader’s directions blindly which can put trigger burnout and the survival tactic of fight, flight, or freeze or activate the threat and reward response.

Leaders in organizations that value empathy benefit from employees when they speak up, it can become rich in data making it easier to spot and handle threats and opportunities. Hemant Kakkar and Subra Tangirala, professors of management and organizations at Duke University, indicated that if employees are not speaking up, the culture is to blame. The reason behind employees’ silence, as proposed by Kakkar and Tangirala, is twofold: personality perspective and situational perspective. On one hand, personality perspective is centered around the idea that some personalities are innately unable to communicate and speak out, this could be due to introversion or shyness. On the other hand, situational perspective explains that when employees do not speak up, the environment and culture does not invite it. The survival reason behind it is to avoid negative reproductions, socially, from disagreeing with the ideas of another; especially from their managers, leaders, and supervisors. 

But speaking up is difficult, Khalil Smith, Heidi Grant, and David Rock investigated the ways in which organizations, its members from leaders to other rankings, can tackle this issue. Smith, a Practice Lead, Diversity, and Inclusion at NeuroLeadership Institute; Grant, a social psychologist; and Rock, the cofounder of NeuroLeadership Institute, appreciate the difficulty it takes to speak up and stated that you are not doing your job if you are not being a diligent, compassionate, and thoughtful member by letting yourself add to the conversation in being the voice that guides. The researchers found that it is psychologically difficult to speak up and adopting “realistic optimism” can aid in tasks viewed as challenging. The idea behind “realistic optimism” shows that when people find a difficult and personally meaningful task, they are more likely to follow through because they believe they will succeed and not be assumptive in their ability to develop so easily. In fact, research finds that people gravitate to self-preservation; people are unlikely to act and will rationalize their feelings after the fact. Indeed, it can be a less than appetizing to taste the bitterness of failure to align your thoughts with your reality. Melbourne Centre for Behavioral Change identified the “if-then” theory, or “implementation intentions,” detailed how, when, and where you will you achieve a goal. The concept of if-then planning: if you begin identifying and recognizing which situations that have been associated with the behavior you desire to change, then designating an alternative reaction designs a mental area with a strength to overcoming habits you wish to retire. “Ok yet it's pointless…” Leaders in organizations that value empathy benefit from employees when they speak up, it can become rich in data making it easier to spot and handle threats and opportunities. Hemant Kakkar and Subra Tangirala, professors of management and organizations at Duke University, indicated that if employees are not speaking up, the culture is to blame. The reason behind employees’ silence, as proposed by Kakkar and Tangirala, is twofold: personality perspective and situational perspective. On one hand, personality perspective is centered around the idea that some personalities are innately unable to communicate and speak out, this could be due to introversion or shyness. On the other hand, situational perspective explains that when employees do not speak up, the environment and culture does not invite it. The survival reason behind it is to avoid negative reproductions, socially, from disagreeing with the ideas of another; especially from their managers, leaders, and supervisors. Do not worry though, the light at the end of the tunnel is not a mirage. The reason this topic is crucial to the advancement of the workplace to a place of happiness. When allowing others and yourself to speak your truth, it is no longer an internalized fear but an opportunity to grow and assist the culture to evolve to a higher place of consciousness. It is the responsibility of every member to be an active part of the change for the better. Eternal and internal happiness can happen when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and physical being are in alignment. The more authentic we can be, the more we can foster our workplaces to be a point of joy and fulfillment instead of a requirement to live. For productivity, effective communication, a transparent culture, Speak Up and watch your happiness multiply!