Creating a Speak Up Culture

 

We make choices everyday about whether to speak up or stay silent. We choose who to listen to and whose voice to discount. Our teams and our organisations develop ‘conversational habits’ around what gets said and who gets heard.

These habits have enormous consequences:

• On reputations 
• On our ability to pivot in crisis 
• On our inclusiveness 

Agility, inclusion, integrity, fairness and survival itself depends on employee voice.

Silence costs careers, reputations and in some cases lives. 

Counter to common perceptions, speaking up is more than a simple question of individual courage; speaking truth to power should be understood as relational and systemic.  Listening up is as important, if not more important, than speaking up. Our research illustrates how those perceived to be powerful often are not mindful of the consequences of their power and how it silences others. It is a leader’s role to invite and listen skilfully, to proactively encourage truth speaking and create a culture of psychological safety.

What is the format?

• Flexible, depending on needs and budget. 
• It can take the form of short workshops or longer, multi-modular programmes
• Participants are asked to fill in a short survey before the programme and data from this is collated and used during the workshop / programme
• Megan’s book Speak Up is used as a course handbook

Who is it for?

• Managers and leaders

What will they learn?

• The personal and organisational imperative to speak and listen up
• To be aware of their own ‘conversational habits’ of speaking and listening and the consequences on themselves and others: when they speak up and when they stay silent; when they listen and when they don’t
• How perceptions of power, status and authority affect conversations
• Using survey data, how they perceive their own personal preferences in speaking and listening up and their organisational culture
• Using the TRUTH framework, how we can change conversations, relationships and performance.
• How leaders can proactively encourage truth speaking and create a culture of psychological safety

What do people say about it?

“Super interesting and definitely some funny aha moments!”

“…really thought-provoking and inspiring”

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