The Power in You
Compliance Corner – Issue 2.4
Much has been made of speaking up and why we need to do it more, especially in the workplace. “Speak-up culture” has become synonymous with “awesome place to work,” signaling employee trust in leadership to do the right thing when issues arise.
But much has also been made of the reasons why employees stay silent. From fear of retaliation to feeling like the status quo will never change, employees choose silence much of the time. And who hasn’t thought or heard one of these phrases, explaining the reasons why?
“I don’t want to ruffle feathers.”
“I haven’t been here long enough.”
“I have the least power of anyone on my team.”
Last month, I had the opportunity to take a course based on the groundbreaking work of University of Virginia’s Mary Gentile*; in Giving Voice to Values, she examines this phenomenon. But rather than covering the familiar ground of why some employees stay silent while others speak up to voice their values, she focuses on how to speak up when you have something to say.
One of the best ways to do that, says Gentile, is to use the power of your position. Now, you may be thinking, “But, I don’t have much power in my position.” In fact, people at all levels in an organization can feel this way, and it might look something like this:
Lower-level employees think they lack the credibility or knowledge to speak up.They may begin to doubt their own perspectives, thinking, “Who am I to question?”
Upper-level employees feel the heightened pressure that accompanies greater responsibility; not only for their organization’s day-to-day functionality, but for the livelihood of their direct reports. They have more to lose if they should fail (higher salary, social position), and while they can see more of what is problematic, they may – either willingly or unwillingly – appear not to notice. They may ask themselves: “Am I going to be the one to upset the apple cart when so much is at stake?”
Mid-level employees may see what’s wrong and know how to fix it, but they feel stuck in the middle, not new enough to ask the innocent question someone from the outside might get away with, and not senior enough to have any clout. They may think: “Who would listen to me? Better to come in and keep my nose down and do my eight hours, then go home.”
While Gentile is quick to point out that there’s never a “right time” to challenge the status quo, there may never be a “wrong time,” either. The trick is to leverage the power of your position by reframing it from the perspective of what employees at other levels are not able to do (because of what Gentile calls “barriers” to action) and what you can do because of where you are (or what Gentile calls the “enablers” you have in your position). We can apply this at each level within an organization to look like this:
Lower-level employees can make “small decisions that, if left unaddressed, could eventually snowball, resulting in greater consequences…” They have a unique vantage point to notice what others who are higher up can’t, so they can speak-up with some authority about what’s really going on.
Upper-level employees may not learn about problems until they’re full-blown, but they have access to resources and tools that lower- and mid-level employees don’t. So they can actually make the needed changes happen where others can’t, and they can speak up to get the process started.
Mid-level employees are in the unique position of being able to see what’s happening with both lower-and upper-level employees, so they can help connect the dots by asking questions about one to the other.
So, if you’ve ever felt stymied by your seeming lack of power in the workplace, try reframing things to find the strengths inherent in your position, regardless of where your name appears on the org chart. By focusing on the enablers and not the barriers to voicing your values, you can quickly move from frustration to action. And that’s pretty powerful.
*jen-TILL-ee
If there’s an ethics or compliance topic you’d like us to write about, please contact mcquillenka@vcu.edu to discuss it.
Source:
Gentile, M. C. (2010). Giving voice to values: How to speak your mind when you know what’s right. Yale University Press.