When employees at every level speak up, they circulate local knowledge, expand the universe of useful ideas, and prevent collective tunnel vision. And not infrequently, minority views turn into novel solutions. But you can’t speak a speak-up culture into existence — doing so in the absence of true psychological safety is an abdication of leadership and an admission of failure. The author presents four steps leaders can take to create conditions that give all employees a voice — and motivate them to use it: 1) Separate worth from worthiness; 2) separate loyalty from agreement; 3) separate status from opinion; and 4) separate permission from adoption.
I recently attended an all-hands meeting for a large corporation. The CEO took the stage and began discussing a fresh batch of employee survey data, focusing on the results of one specific survey item: “I feel safe to speak up at work.
” More than half of the employees who completed the survey disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, indicating a culture of pervasive fear.Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
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