Speaking up is hard enough on its own. Speaking up to a senior leader when you’re relatively new to a managerial role is even more challenging.
However, it’s also necessary. Between 50%-60% of an organization’s managers are front-line managers, and together, they manage about 80% of all employees. These front-line managers play a vital role when it comes to elevating good ideas and moving the organization forward.
To speak up so that senior leaders will listen, junior leaders can turn to the science of brain-friendly communication to manage their own threat levels and ensure they package their message for maximum effect, a topic we recently wrote about in Fast Company.
Minimize potential status threats
Before we explore how to speak up effectively, it’s worth understanding how to speak up at all — because, in far too many cases, remaining silent is the easiest option.
Finding your voice often requires overcoming a status differential. Conversations with leaders who are more senior than you can feel scary or stressful because, as social animals, we’re sensitive to our place in the hierarchy. If we speak up, we may fear disrupting our standing. Gaining the courage to speak up requires minimizing this threat.
From there, speaking up effectively means communicating in a way that senior leaders will be receptive to — in many cases, avoiding creating status threats in them. For instance, a senior leader may feel put off by an idea delivered too confidently rather than with curiosity.
It’s also wise to avoid accidentally creating threats to a person’s autonomy, or sense of being in control. Senior leaders tend to have greater influence in the organization, so junior leaders may benefit from a collaborative approach rather than seeming to dictate what the organization should do.
With this science in mind, we can now turn to best practices for speaking up in the most effective ways possible.
Habits for speaking up
The first habit for making speaking up easier is reappraisal. This is when you intentionally reframe a negative situation as a positive. If you feel uneasy about speaking up, try focusing on the benefits you’ll bring to the organization rather than the stress you feel.
After going through the reappraisal process, you can help your message land well by beginning from a position of facts and data rather than opinion. Opinions are debatable (and therefore easier to dismiss), while facts can be readily observed.
So, if you have a new idea to share, explain what you’ve noticed and what conclusions you’ve come to. Pairing the observable facts to the recommendation shows you’re not just pulling the idea from thin air — it’s rooted in what’s actually happening in some part of the organization.
To minimize the status and autonomy threats we discussed earlier, ask the person for their opinion on your idea rather than claiming (even accidentally) that your way is the only way.
For example, if a big meeting tends to run long because too many people want to share their thoughts, you can try presenting it like this: “I’m noticing the weekly meeting runs long because so many people want to contribute. I have some ideas for how we could keep it from running over without sacrificing input. Can I share them, and you can tell me which one you like best?”
As a leader at any level, it’s imperative that you speak up. Not only do leaders set the norms of an organization, such that other employees will model your behavior, but you have tremendous influence on how the organization is run. It’s other leaders’ jobs to listen to what you have to say.
By following the science of speaking up, you can make sure superficial labels like job titles and seniority don’t get in the way of great ideas making a difference for the organization. A version of this article appeared in Fast Company. To read the full article, click here.
