𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐱?

It says:

We often endure things that are “not-so-bad,” but this stops us from flourishing into truly good situations. The paradox is that when situations are sort-of bad, we’d actually be better off if they were worse❗

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

And nobody says anything. And nothing changes. And we keep soldiering on.

I was on a call last week and this happened:

👨🏽 VP presents problem to CEO

👩🏼 CEO asks, with incredulity, why nothing was done about it

👨🏽VP hems and haws, says it’s not really his focus, and it wasn’t really that bad

👩🏼 CEO reconfirms that the VP KNEW it was happening

👨🏽 VP admits that yes, he did

👩🏼 CEO is frustrated

👨🏽 VP lost face and realized he should accept ownership and tackle the problem

😮 Yikes 😮

The Homeland Security campaign comes to mind. “If you see something, say something.”

But I’d like to change that to “If you see something, START something.”

A conversation. A project. A meeting. An initiative. An inquiry. Some research.

You’re probably thinking: But Ed….

🤲🏼 It’s hard to speak up, what if I risk my job!

🤲🏼 I don’t know who to tell!

🤲🏼 What if the person I tell….tells me to fix it?

🤲🏼 I don’t want to get involved, it’s too messy.

🤲🏼 It’s not my responsibility.

With so many remote employees now, anonymity has been both intensified (no face, but plenty of trace details) and eliminated (there’s no way to send an anonymous email). What’s a person to do?

The message for EMPLOYEES…

💡 Consider different forms of communication.

💡 Talk to a trusted colleague and discuss the risks.

💡 Write a structured, well-written email with your thoughts, fears, solutions, and suggestions.

💡 List the ways this impacts the business and find someone who cares about that.

Ultimately, if this issue is even somewhat related to what you’re doing at work, then you’ll be impacted. It’s just a matter of where and when.

The message for EMPLOYERS…

💡 Do your employees feel safe speaking up?

💡 Do you have an anonymous employee feedback survey?

💡 Does feedback submitted visibly and promptly lead to action or change?

💡 Do you have a consistent container where troubles are brought to the table?

💡 What is your typical reaction when problems are brought to your attention?

💡 Do you have a feedback structure in quarterly reviews?

Have you ever spoken up and were sorry you did?

Ever spoken up and were happy you did?

What happened?

 

If this resonates, let’s talk.