Does psychological safety take away the need for courage? Or does courage take away the need for psychological safety? The answer to both questions is a resounding NO. Both are– and will continue to be needed in a complex and uncertain world.”  –Dr. Amy Edmondson (in her foreword to Courageous Cultures)

If you want real psychological safety on your team, you need people to feel safe and encouraged to speak up and share their concerns and ideas. That’s important.  And not enough. You also need to equip them with the skills and words to do that well.

The question in this week’s “Asking for a Friend” is one we’ve been getting a lot. How do our books Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict and Courageous Cultures work together? What’s the best way to use them with my team?

Here’s the short answer.

How the Two Books Work Together

In “Courageous Cultures”, you get very practical ways to create psychological safety, to proactively create clarity about where you need remarkable ideas, to invite people in a way that they feel encouraged to share.  Powerful Phrases gives everyone on the team practical ways to have these conversations, even when they feel uncomfortable.

It would be easy to say, well Courageous Cultures is for leaders, for the culture builders (those making it safe) and Powerful Phrases is for everyone else, to help with confidence and competence in speaking up.  That is certainly a useful way to think about this.

And… the truth is what we’ve seen working with teams across a variety of industries all over the world, is hard conversations are hard at every level. When you’ve got tons of responsibility, the stakes are high, and stakeholder relationships are complex, it doesn’t get easier to “say no,” or deal with an angry boss, or a passive-aggressive co-worker.

The 4 Cs (and related habits), G.O.A.T.s, and Powerful Phrases will empower better collaboration and reduce stress no matter what role you are in.

That’s why we’ve invested so much time making it easy for you to read both of these books with your team, and to align on some clear actions and next steps to create better psychological safety and to empower everyone on the team to talk about what matters most.

Team Activities to Encourage Courage and Better Conversations.

A few months ago, we published, How to Read Courageous Cultures with Your Team. We gave you easy access to supplemental resources to read Courageous Cultures together and to create more clarity and curiosity in your team. If you’re looking for practical tools and techniques for your leadership team, that’s a great start.

Today, we want to ensure you have access to the Workplace Conflict and Collaboration Center, which has many activities to not just read Powerful Phrases together, but to have important conversations you need with one another to deal with today’s challenging workplace situations, including our Collaborative Conversations Guide.

If you are looking for team activities to empower EVERYONE at every level of your team to talk about what matters, or to collaborate through the complex conflict cocktails they’re faced with, this guide makes collaboration easier.

We would love to hear from you! Are you reading Courageous Cultures or Powerful Phrases for Dealing With Workplace Conflict with your team? What activities work best to help create psychological safety AND encourage courage by building practical skills?

The post How You Can Encourage Courage and Better Conversations as a Team Activity appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

If you want your team to feel more courageous, remind them of times they’ve been courageous before. This team-building activity gives your team a chance to reflect on their micro-moments of courage. And, to share these moments with one another as they build trust and connection.

This conversation is incredibly powerful for two reasons. First, we know from Dr. Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety, that how we think about the past matters. People are more likely to hold onto a negative experience with speaking up or taking a risk, than a positive one. This activity reminds your team of the times they WERE BRAVE and how it made them feel. And second, by sharing strategic stories, your team will build trust and connection.

A Powerful (and Easy Team Building Activity to Encourage Courage)

If you’ve read our book, Courageous Cultures, you know it comes with a downloadable Executive Strategy Guide.

You can download the FREE Executive Strategy Guide, which includes all the Courageous Cultures “First Tracks” activities here. 

A Step By Step Guide To Facilitate The Courage Mapping Activity and Discussion

This team-building activity is an adaptation of the Courage Map activity associated with the first step of building a Courageous Culture: Navigating the Narrative.

Objectives for the Courage Mapping Team-Building Activity

• Encourage individual reflection on personal acts of courage.
• Foster open communication and mutual respect within the team.
• Identify and reinforce shared values and lessons that contribute to a Courageous Culture.

Materials Needed

• Whiteboard or large paper for collective notes.
• Markers or pens.
• Printed worksheets for Courage Mapping (found in the Executive Strategy Guide).

Part 1: Individual Courage Mapping

This team-building activity starts with self-reflection.

Duration: 30 minutes

Instruction: Ask each team member to create a timeline of their career. Have them highlight at least three moments where they acted courageously. Then, invite them to reflect on the following questions:

• What motivated me to be courageous in this circumstance?
• What did I expect to happen?
• And, what happened as a result?
• How do I feel about this incident?
• What values did it reveal as important to me?
• As a leader today, where would it be helpful to show up more like this or with these values?

Part 2: Group Reflection and Sharing

The real magic of the team-building activity is in the sharing. Give your team a chance to share their moments of courage. Cull out common experiences. Look for themes.

Duration: About an hour (depending on the size of your team)

• Setting the Stage: Create a safe and respectful environment for sharing personal stories.
• Sharing: Each member shares one significant act of courage from their timeline.
• Discussion: Facilitate a group discussion on each story, focusing on motivations, outcomes, and values (e.g. what… do you notice about yourself? Makes you proud? Did you learn?)

Part 3: Identifying Collective Themes

You can collect themes as you go along. Another best practice, summarize the themes of this team-building activity at the end.

Duration: 30 minutes

• Collaborative Analysis: Guide the team in identifying common themes and values emerging from the shared stories.
• Whiteboard Summary: Use the whiteboard to note down these themes and values.

Facilitator Tips

• Encourage honesty and openness but also respect boundaries.
• Ensure every team member has an equal opportunity to share and contribute.
• Be attentive and responsive to the emotional dynamics in the room.
• Use active listening and summarizing skills to clarify and validate shared experiences.
• Be prepared to handle sensitive topics with care and confidentiality.

More Courageous Cultures Team-Building Activities and Tools

In the following article we share links to more Courageous Cultures activities and tools and a link to watch our “How to Read Courageous Cultures With Your Team” recorded online event:

Leadership Book Club: How to Read Courageous Cultures With Your Team

The post How to Encourage More Courage on Your Team (Team-Building Activity) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

If you’re getting lots of ideas, you’re probably doing a lot of things right when it comes to encouraging workplace innovation —making it safe, asking for input, and responding well. That’s a great start. But how many of these ideas are you implementing? Imagine if you weren’t just getting lots of ideas, but remarkable, practical ones.

In Karin’s just released TEDx talk, she shares why psychological safety is vital, but not enough when it comes to workplace innovation— and a practical technique to help you get better ideas.

Why Psychological Safety x Clarity Leads to Better Workplace Innovation

In our research for Courageous Cultures, 50% of the respondents said they hold back ideas because nothing will happen. If you shoot down too many ideas, people will stop trying.

When you are clear about the kinds of ideas you need, and what would make them remarkable, you’ll get better ideas. The better the ideas, the more you’ll use them. The more ideas you use, the more people will share. Now you have a virtuous cycle of both confidence and innovation. Not to mention more remarkable ideas.

How We Learned the Secret to More Remarkable Ideas

When we first began experimenting with practical approaches to make it feel safer and easier to share ideas, we tried two approaches.

Sometimes, we say, just say bring us ANY practical ideas to improve the organization.

In this scenario, people learned some critical thinking and problem-solving skills, had fun, and got to know one another better. It wasn’t a complete loss. But most of those ideas weren’t implemented. Reinforcing the “nothing ever happens, so why bother” statistic.

With others, we got very specific about what a good idea would accomplish. Leaders identified three or four areas of the organization where they really wanted ideas and were very clear about any constraints the teams needed to consider, and then they applied the tools.

Similar process. Similar time investment. A significant difference in the number of ideas implemented.

A Closer Look at the Intersection of Clarity and Psychological Safety

The Two Dimensions of Innovation

1. Psychological Safety: Cultivating an environment where people feel secure in expressing their thoughts.
2. Strategic Clarity: Directing those thoughts towards meaningful areas for innovation.

The Role of Strategic Clarity in Decision-Making

• Clear Outcomes: Knowing where you want to go makes it easier to decide if an idea will help you get there.
• Focused Engagement: When people know what the objective is, they’ll contribute more effectively.

In the worst-case scenario, when psychological safety and strategic clarity are both low, most ideas will be negligible, and people are unlikely to have, or share them. Frustration is highest in this scene, and people are likely to give up, quiet quit, or leave.

When clarity is high, but psychological safety is low, people will have ideas, but they might be too nervous to share them. You’ll have invisible ideas, along with the frustration that first sparked our original research. This is the challenge that most people deeply committed to psychological safety are working to solve.

When psychological safety is high, but clarity is low, you’ll end up with lots of ideas.   There may be some good ones, but it’s tough to see them. You’ll spend significant time listening (and responding to) ideas, which eats up time from implementing the good ones. You’ve got a pile of unmanageable ideas. This is a challenge that many people deeply committed to psychological safety are faced with.

And, why some leaders shy away from encouraging workplace innovation, “we don’t need more ideas, we have too many already, we just need to execute.”

When strategic clarity and psychological safety are both high, you’re more likely to get remarkable Ideas. When you have more remarkable ideas, there’s less frustration and more usable innovation.

Your turn.

How have you seen better clarity lead to more remarkable ideas?

The post Workplace Innovation: The Secret to Getting Better, Remarkable, Usable Ideas appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You’ve got to give your boss bad news. But the timing isn’t great–for you or for them. The restructure. The uncertainty. The promotion that’s right around the corner.  Maybe it’s just not a great time to rock the boat. 

How do you give your boss bad news well, while avoiding the proverbial shooting of the messenger? Start by “ditching the diaper genie” and use our D.A.R.N. approach for delivering bad news.

First, Ditch the Diaper Genie.

If you’ve bumped into us in an airport over the last decade, it’s likely we’ve been carrying a diaper genie. Why? We’re passionate about avoiding sandwich feedback, having real conversations that matter, and delivering bad news well.

Our son, Sebastian, loves this metaphor so much that he can even explain it himself (as seen here in this video (worth a watch and a giggle). Our client invited our then 10-year-old son to give the diaper genie bit a go in Bristol England) and his recent sketch (at age 16, see below).

May our youth grow up in a world where real conversations are the norm. To learn to speak the truth with candor, and work in organizations that encourage them to speak up, share their ideas, and train them to do this well.

What does it mean to “ditch the diaper genie?” And, what does that have to do with giving your boss bad news?

If you haven’t been around a baby in a minute, a diaper genie works like this. You take a stinky diaper. You put it in the genie. Give it a twist. And the poop gets wrapped up so tight, that it doesn’t stink. But of course, we all know it still does.

Now, we say this with great respect for Playtex. Diaper Genies are a GREAT invention for parents and babies, but they’re not so good in organizations.

If you’ve got to give your boss bad news, it might be tempting to put it in the genie.

You think… “Our project is already three weeks behind. And we’ve just lost a key supplier.” But then you look at your boss, who’s already having a bad day, month, or year. So you stick it in the genie and say, “Well, we’ve had some minor setbacks. But, it’s really no big deal. Everything is under control.”

And your boss can’t help you. Because the poop doesn’t stink. And, if they can’t smell it, they can’t help you solve it. And so the bad news festers, unheard and unresolved.

What to Do Instead: How to Give Your Boss Bad News (the D.A.R.N. Method).

So, what’s the best way to ditch the diaper genie when giving your boss bad news? Avoid the cover-up and the blindsides. And, try the D.A.R.N. approach instead.

click on the image to download the DARN Method Tool

D- Disclose. (Explain the situation and root cause)

No blindsides. It’s WAY better for your boss to hear the bad news from you FIRST. Not from their boss. Not from social media. Disclosing the bad news early, and often builds trust.

A-Accountability. (Don’t be a blamer of bad news)

Take accountability.  Even if it wasn’t completely your fault. You might say something like, “honestly, I should have been closer to this situation.” Or, “I know how important this is, and I want to do everything to make it right.”

R- Response. (Share your solution to fix the situation)

Explain what you’ve done to rectify the scene. “I’ve called the customer to make it right. And, alerted our social media team in case the customer goes to Twitter with this. I’ve given the supervisor a final written warning.”

N- Next Steps. (Explain your plan and what you need next)

This is where you really shine when giving your boss bad news. Have a plan. “What I think you might do next is contact your manager (so they’re not blindsided). Or, “I think we need to change our policies or procedures to ensure this never happens.”

When giving your boss bad news, we encourage you to “ditch the diaper genie,” disclose the situation, take accountability and work to make it right.

Your turn. What would you add? What are your best practices for giving your boss bad news?

Related Articles

Managing Up: Keep Your Boss Informed About a Struggling Team Member

Managing Up With Grace: How to Give Your Boss Better Feedback

How to Give Difficult Feedback to Your Boss (Even When You Are Scared)

The post How to Give Your Boss Bad News: Avoid This Mistake and What to Do Instead appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

In this week’s Asking for a Friend, I talk with Jean Marie DiGiovanna, about more practical ways to create psychological safety at work, and our mutual interest in asking Courageous Questions.

Not Just Any Question…

If you want better psychological safety, pick questions that create conversation.

Ask questions about how people feel, what they’re experiencing, and what they would like more of.

And, how each of us can actually change. As a leader what can I do differently? Ask “how can I create an open space and an environment where we are safe to share our views. And, safe to disagree with each other.

A Few of Jean Marie’s Favorite Courageous Questions to Build Psychological Safety

A few important questions to create psychological safety in your team.

• What’s one gift, skill, or talent that I’ve overlooked, underutilized, or undervalued? (See Related “Asking for a Friend” on Retaining Top Performers)
• What conversations would you like to see us have that we’re not having today?
• And, give these questions in advance to the person you are asking.

Compassionate Conversation Starters

In an early article, we shared a list of compassionate conversation starters that work well to jump-start dialogue on your team. You can download the entire list here.

A few of my favorites…

• What has been one source of inspiration or strength for you this year?
• If you had a one-word mantra to describe your approach to this year, what would that be?
• As you reflect on the turbulence of this past year, what makes you proud?
• What are you grieving most from this past year?
• What are you learning about yourself?

More Courageous Questions to Jump-Start Conversations

If you’re looking for more Courageous Questions, here are some good ones. What else would you add?

(click the image for a full article and to download questions).

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Related Articles on Psychological Safety

Share Your Ideas: Practical Ways to Ensure Your Voice is Heard

Speak Up Culture: How to Encourage More and Better Ideas

Psychological Safety or More Courage: What Your Team Needs Now

The post How Do I Ask Better Questions to Create More Psychological Safety? [VIDEO] appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Whenever we ask participants in our Courageous Cultures or Team Innovation programs to share a time that felt particularly brave at work, the room explodes with powerful energy.

People love to share times when they were scared and did the right thing anyway.

Sometimes we even construct a “Courage Buffet” so people can share their courageous moments privately and publicly at the same time. This leads to poignant sharing and powerful insights.

Perhaps some of these moments of courage will feel familiar to you. Moments where someone…

• “confronted my boss’ bad decision”
• “fired a poor performer after years of everyone looking the other way”
• “had the courage to walk away from a toxic situation”
• “stood up for a coworker being discriminated against.”
• “fired a customer.”
• “defended a co-worker against a bully.”

We’re curious. What’s a time YOU felt brave at work? (We would love to hear your stories in the comments).

Most of these stories are not about Bravery with a capital “B”—the front-page news stories of whistle-blowing and confronting ethical breaches.

They are stories with a lower-case “b”—choices to take a small, uncomfortable risk for the good of the business, team, the customer, or themselves.

How Does Courage Make You Feel?

When we ask about how being courageous at work made them feel, the answers are remarkably consistent. People report that they felt:

• “Fantastic”
• “Strong”
• “Relieved”
• “Proud”
• “Stupid that I Waited So Long”

Avoiding Regrets of Boldness

This discussion of courageous moments often leads to confessions of regrets – those times when you don’t act.

Dan Pink calls these “regrets of boldness” in his book, the Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.

Dan collected 20,000 regrets from people around the world. In fact, you can take take part in this ongoing World Regret Survey here.

He found that people have the same four regrets, and one of them is a “Regret of Boldness.” (Learn more in this short interview:)

Here are examples of regrets we heard from audience members in one of our recent Courageous Cultures keynotes.

• “My regret is not talking to my boss about this sooner. She was so receptive.”
• “I wasted years in a toxic job, but I was too scared to leave.”
• “I knew what we were doing was wrong—still wake up at night feeling guilty.”

5 Powerful Questions That Will Help You Be a Bit Braver at Work

Our goal today is to save YOU a regret or two. Or, to help you encourage courage in your mentoring or coaching conversations.

1. Why is this courageous act so important?

One of the most interesting side findings in our psychological safety research was that when people described their courageous acts, they told us, “At the time it didn’t feel remarkably courageous, I was just doing what needed to be done.” They were brave at work because the cause mattered.

2. What does a successful outcome look like?

You can gain confidence to be braver at work by visualizing success. What’s better because of your courageous action? What will be better when you take action this time?

3. What’s at stake if I don’t act? (Will I regret not doing something?)

This one’s the inverse of number two. What’s the consequence of inertia?

Consider what happens if you don’t speak up or address the concern. What if no one else does anything either? What are the consequences?

4. Imagine you’ve just taken courageous action, what do you notice about yourself?

Dr. Amy Edmondson of Harvard, who wrote The Fearless Organization and the foreword to our book, talks about the risk of “discounting the future,” or underestimating the future value of speaking up and over-weighting their current fear. This question can help you be braver at work by visualizing those powerful, positive feelings that come from doing the right thing.

5. What do others notice about you after this brave-at-work moment?

This final question can be fun to consider too. Confidence and daring are contagious. They may or may not even know about the courageous act—many of these acts of courage necessarily happen behind closed doors. But they might just notice a renewed sense of calm, peace, or maybe even some healthy, well-earned pride.

Looking for more ways to speak up and be a bit more courageous at work?

Check out these articles, or download the first chapters of Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates for FREE.

• Managerial Courage: 7 Ways to Be a Bit More Daring
• Share Your Ideas: Practical Ways to Ensure Your Voice is Heard
• How to Deal With Team Conflict 

Your Turn

We would love to hear from you. What’s a moment that you were brave at work that makes you proud? Do you have any “regrets of boldness”?

Leaders Coaching Leaders: One Secret to Sustainable Leadership Development

The post Braver at Work: Questions to Inspire Your Next Courageous Act (with Video) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

In this episode, Gaurav and Mark, authors of Unfear, give you the rundown about the impact and archetypes of fear in the workplace and provide strategies, techniques, and actions you need to bring about an unfear transformation.

Unfear

05:43 – The problem of fear in organizations and leadership

06:10 – Consequences when you operate from a reactive place

09:27 – Why fear works in the short term

17:23 – This emotion is neither a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just part of the human experience. And it’s really about shifting the stories and the narratives.

19:24 – How do you actually create the space for observation rather than just collapsing into the emotion?

30:55 – Why, in many companies, the organization is there to serve the hierarchy as opposed to the hierarchy in the organization being there to serve the people, the customer, and the goal.

41:07 – What can we do first? The first step always is awareness. Becoming more aware without blame and judgment of yourself, just more aware of how you are showing up as a leader.

42:32 – This journey and relationship with yourself and fear is a critical part of becoming a truly human-centered leader.

Connect with Gaurav and Mark

Gaurav LinkedIn

Gaurav Twitter

Mark LinkedIn

Mark Twitter

Get the Book and Move Through Fear

The post Transforming Fear with Gaurav Bhatnagar and Mark Minukas appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

“Courage is every virtue at its testing point” -C.S.Lewis

In this week’s, Asking for a Friend, Karin speaks with Jim Detert, author of Choosing Courage, about what it means, and what it takes, to be a bit more courageous at work.

The Nature of Workplace Courage

1:24 Jim shares about his book and how it’s important not to only know and have the tools for effective leadership, but how at work to use them. And we talk about how challenging “speaking truth to power” (i.e. the boss) can be.

3:40 It’s important to separate courage from courageous actions. We ALL can identify with actions that we or someone else demonstrated toward a worthy or noble cause that carried some risk.

4:27 Courage at work involves risky but worthy actions.

4:39 We’ve allowed ourselves to believe that courage is just a property some people have, but that’s not true.

5:09 Why should courage at work be any different from any other virtue expected on a regular basis (i.e. kindness)?

5:30 Jim shares about a study done with some of his students about people they admire for short and long term. In the long term, courage tends to stand out as the most admirable.

6:30 The myth of the “magical time down the road” when things get less risky.

7:57 Many organizations “talk the talk” about courage, but the sense is that the “yes people” are the ones who actually get promoted.

8:45 Is courage worth it?

9:04 It’s not for one person to decide for another whether courage is worth it. The person needs to ask, “Do I care enough?” and “How important is it to me to be true to myself and authentic relative to potential consequences?” Also, think about longer-term horizons. People tend to look back and talk about positive, courageous things they did or regrets what they didn’t do.

How to Be Competently Courageous

12:09 Some very specific elements of courage.

12:24 Speaking truth to power – some do’s and don’ts. We should choose competent courage – courage that is also skillful.

13:26 It is not just “in the moment.” We also do many things prior to and after that moment that will contribute to that moment of courage.

14:00 Showing up with both warmth and competence

16:05 Develop self-awareness so that we know what may detract from our warmth and competence (i.e. facial expressions)

17:50 Appear to be on both sides, or no side at all, to reduce the feeling of win/lose.

20:44 What’s a good way to not be a yes person and be able to advance your career when the leadership appears to not value that sort of courage? You may have to decide if this workplace is even right for you. Do you want to advance in a toxic organization?

Also, be sure to reframe your points because your boss may be thinking about threats the company is facing more than opportunities you want to see. Pay attention to what is concerning to them. The content can be the same but the framing may need to be different.

23:47 Have a “bags packed” attitude so your career security doesn’t depend on the money or identity you receive from one organization. Think honestly about the notion of loyalty. Sometimes courage at work means being ready to leave.

27:22 What advice do you have for people wanting to change jobs or careers? Get clear on your values and ask yourself what kind of organization, and what kind of boss do you want to work for? Interview the company, don’t just be interviewed. Pick up on signals that may indicate it’s not the place for you. Get things in writing.

30:10 We cannot be someone in 30 seconds what we have not been in the last 10 years…

30:49 One last piece of advice – you are not going to be ready for the big moments if you don’t put in the work every day. Build a courage ladder.

Your turn. What’s been your most courageous act at work? What helped you to muster the courage?

The post Courage at Work: How to Be More Courageous (and Why it Matters) Video appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

“Hey Karin, I just had my 360 Feedback review, and I heard I should speak up more in meetings. But it’s hard. How do I get better at this?” #AskingForaFriend

4 Ways to Speak Up More in Meetings

This question came in from a really good friend of mine, whom I’ve known for over 30 years. And here’s the thing. She’s so smart with so much to offer. And, sometimes she holds back and doesn’t speak up in meetings. Which is tragic.

So here’s my advice for her and for anyone struggling to speak up more in meetings.

1. Start before the meeting begins.

The best way to have more confidence and speak up more in meetings is to be really prepared. Ask for the agenda in advance. Or, inquire about the topics to be discussed and decisions to be made.

A little advanced notice about the conversation gives some time to gather your thoughts and prepare your point of view.

2. Imagine the players at the table.

Before the meeting, picture who will be in the meeting and what could be on their hearts and minds.

Anticipating other people’s contributions and ideas can help you be more prepared to jump into the dialogue and add value.

3. Consider your most important points and write them down in advance.

It’s easy for conversations to go all over the place in meetings, particularly if you’re in a team full of extroverts.

Try writing down your most important points in advance, so when the conversation goes sideways, it’s easier to bring the conversation back and speak up more in meetings.

“One idea I have that I want to ensure we consider before we close is _______”

Or, you can frame it as a question.

“In preparing for this meeting, I’ve been wondering if we might consider ____. Would that be a topic worth spending a few minutes on?”

4. Position your ideas using our Courageous Cultures I.D.E.A. Model.

If you’ve read Courageous Cultures, attended one of our leadership development programs, or have hung out much on this blog, you know we’re big fans of the I.D.E.A. method for positioning your ideas. This is a great approach to help you speak up in meetings as well.

You can read more about the I.D.E.A approach for positioning your ideas here (or simply watch the video).

Your turn. What are your best practices for speaking up in meetings?

The post How To Speak Up in Meetings (A Video For if You’re Feeling Unsure) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

You want to share your great ideas to improve the business, but if you’re like many employees we work with, sometimes it’s hard to know just how or when to share them.

Maybe you’ve had a bad experience before and it feels safer to stay silent.

Or, perhaps you’re not quite sure if your idea is a good idea. But what it if IS a great idea, and you don’t share it?

If you’re not feeling confident about speaking up, you’re not alone.

In our research for Courageous Cultures, 40% of respondents said they lack the confidence to share their ideas.

67% said their managers operates around the notion of “this is the way we’ve always done it.

And 50% said they worry nothing will happen to their ideas anyway– so why bother?

And yet, during this challenging time of fast pivots, hybrid teams, and return to the office, your voice matters more than ever!

Can you imagine how much better things could be if we all came to work with one important question on our minds, “How can we make things better?”  And then shared those creative ideas and did something about them?

If you haven’t already done this – download our I.D.E.A. Incubator Guide. It’s your free guide to a power-packed team innovation session that will mobilize courage and increase team engagement.

5 Important Steps to Share Your Ideas So They’re More Likely to Be Heard

We don’t want either of these reasons to prevent you from sharing your good ideas, so we’ve put together these practical steps to make it a bit easier.

1. Navigate the Narrative: Understand how past experiences may be creating FOSU (Fear of Speaking Up).

In Courageous Cultures terms, we call this “Navigating the Narrative.”

It’s human nature to remember a negative experience you had speaking up more than a positive one. This means an important step in gaining the confidence to speak up is to remember the times that you did speak up and it made a difference.

Think back on your career. What would you describe as your biggest moments of courage? Can you recall a time that you spoke up, even when you were nervous, challenged a decision, or shared an idea and it made all the difference?

P.S. We would love to hear about your biggest moments of courage in the comments below (e.g. I stopped a bully, I confronted my boss. I challenged the data.)

Courage breeds more courage, both in ourselves and with others.

2. Create Clarity: Ensure you understand the strategic priorities.

Most of the time when leaders tell us that their team is not that strategic, or express concern that they’re getting too many ideas they can’t use, the biggest issue is a lack of clarity about what matters most.

Yes, it’s your boss’s job to translate strategic priorities and to help you understand how you can add the most value … including what problems they’re looking to solve and where they need a great idea.

However, we all know that no manager is perfect, and sometimes this communication breaks down.

If you’re unsure of the strategic priorities, ask your manager with an approach like this.

I really care about this company and the success of our team.

I have some ideas I want to share that could help us to improve, but I want to ensure they’re on point.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’re working on right now? Are you open to some of my ideas in that arena?

3. Cultivate Curiosity

One surprising part of our courageous cultures research was that 49% of the respondents (across all levels of the business), said that they are not regularly asked for their ideas.

And, the sad truth is that many managers think they ARE asking because they have an open door.  Which is great, but not enough.

We’re working hard on spreading the word on the importance of asking well.

In the meantime, our hope for you is that you won’t wait to be asked.

We want to ensure your voice is heard and that your feel confident to share your ideas.

Ask yourself and others a good courageous question.

If you want to cultivate curiosity about how to make things better, the easiest way to start is by asking courageous questions of yourself and others.

A courageous question differs from a generic “How can we improve?” question in that it’s both specific and vulnerable.

It’s specific in that the focus is narrow, you’re just thinking and talking about one area to improve. And it’s vulnerable because it assumes that improvement is possible.

For example:

• “What’s one thing we do that really frustrates our customers (and what can we do about it)?”
• “What’s one thing that’s sabotaging our productivity right now (and what should we do instead)?”
• “If we could make one change to improve the quality of our remote meetings, what would that be (and how can we make that happen)?”

One easy technique we teach leaders in our strategic leadership and fishbowl programs is called Own the U.G.L.Y.

You don’t have to be the one in charge to run people through these strategic questions. You can learn more about this process by downloading our free Idea Incubator Guide.

Own the U.G.L.Y.

U- What are we Underestimating?

G- What’s got to Go?

L- Where are We Losing?

Y- Where are we missing the Yes?

4. Share Your I.D.E.A.s

Sometimes when a good idea goes unnoticed, it’s just a matter of positioning.

To ensure your voice is heard, and help your ideas attract the attention they deserve, use our I.D.E.A. model to position them.

I-Interesting

Why is this idea interesting? What strategic problem does it solve? How will results improve from this idea (e.g. customer experience, employee retention, efficiency)?

D- Doable

Is this idea something we could actually do? How would we make it happen? What would make it easier or more difficult?

E- Engaging

Who would we need to engage to make this happen? Why should they support it? Where are we most likely to meet resistance?

A- Actions

What are the most important actions needed to try this? How would we start?

5. Respond with Regard

Of course, one of the best ways to ensure your voice is heard is to actively listen to the ideas of others.

When a coworker, project team member, or even your boss shares an idea, how you respond makes all the difference in their willingness to keep speaking up, and of course, will impact how they respond to your ideas.

If you want a team culture where everyone comes to work asking “How can we make this better?”, getting good at responding with regard to ideas (even if they are half-baked or off-base) makes all the difference.

Start Here to Ensure Your Voice is Heard

We want to ensure your voice is heard, so we’ve shared a lot here to give you some options to consider as you consider and share your ideas.

The most important part is to start.

Ask yourself, “How can we make things better around here?” Think about (and share) one I.D.E.A. that would help.

And then, ask your co-workers the same question and ensure their voice is heard too.

Want more tools and ideas like this to build a Courageous Culture?

First, download your free copy of the Let’s Grow Leaders I.D.E.A. Incubator Guide. Then, watch this video about our book – your roadmap to a Courageous Culture.

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