Megan Reitz, a Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School, delves into the art of encouraging open communication in organizations. She emphasizes that speaking up and listening are intertwined, urging leaders to create trusting environments. Reitz shares tactics for fostering informal conversations that enhance dialogue, stressing the importance of timing and context for effective feedback. By addressing power dynamics, she illustrates how leaders can empower unheard voices and cultivate a culture of open dialogue.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Disappearing Employee
A leader asked Megan Reitz to make junior employees speak up more.
Research revealed employees' fear of speaking up due to a past incident where someone "disappeared" after voicing concerns.
insights INSIGHT
Power Dynamics
Power dynamics significantly influence communication in organizations.
Labels and titles affect status and authority, influencing whether people speak up.
question_answer ANECDOTE
How You Show Up Affects My Voice
Ian Wilkie, from 50 Million Voices, shared a powerful metaphor: "How you show up affects my voice.".
A leader's demeanor (busy, distracted, judgmental) can silence others.
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The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don't
L. David Marquet
In 'Leadership Is Language,' L. David Marquet provides a radical playbook for empowering teams by focusing on the power of language in leadership. Drawing from his experience as a nuclear submarine captain, Marquet outlines practical strategies and real-life examples to enhance communication skills, foster collaboration, autonomy, and high performance. The book emphasizes the importance of language in shaping organizational culture and employee engagement, introducing concepts such as 'intent-based leadership' and the role of questions in effective communication. Marquet offers six key 'plays' for leaders, including controlling the clock, collaborating rather than coercing, committing rather than complying, and connecting rather than conforming, to create a more empowering and collaborative work environment.
Turn The Ship Around!
L. David Marquet
In 'Turn the Ship Around!', Captain L. David Marquet recounts his experience as the commander of the USS Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine. Initially trained in the traditional 'know all–tell all' leadership model, Marquet faced significant challenges when he took command of the Santa Fe, which was then one of the worst-performing submarines in the fleet. He realized that the traditional leader-follower approach was ineffective and decided to implement a leader-leader model, where every crew member was empowered to take responsibility and make decisions. This approach led to a dramatic improvement in morale, performance, and retention, transforming the Santa Fe into one of the best submarines in the fleet. The book provides practical insights and strategies for implementing this leadership model in various organizational settings.
Megan Reitz: Speak Up
Megan Reitz is Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School where she speaks, researches, consults and supervises on the intersection of leadership, change, dialogue and mindfulness. She is on the Thinkers50 ranking of global business thinkers and is ranked in HR Magazine’s Most Influential Thinkers listing. She has written Dialogue in Organizations and Mind Time.
She is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and her research has recently featured in Forbes, on the BBC, in TEDx talks, and in numerous academic and practice-based journals. Her latest research on employee activism was nominated for the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award. Her most recent book with John Higgins is titled Speak Up: Say What Needs to Be Said and Hear What Needs to Be Heard*.
Many leaders consider what they need to do in order to speak truth to others, but rarely focus on how to make it easier for people to speak to them. In this conversation, Megan and I explore what leaders can do in order to hear what needs to be heard. We share several tactics that will make it easier for others to surface what you need to hear.
Key Points
Speaking up and listening up go hand in hand. Power always affects what gets said and what gets heard.
A key checkpoint is whether or not you really value the opinion of others.
Where you have conversations can make a massive difference on how comfortable the other party is in surfacing an important message for you to hear.
Leaders who have margin in their daily schedules create space for the right moment to hear truth.
Proactively invite challenge and debate through specific invitations. One example: “What do you know that I need to know, but will never be told?”
Resources Mentioned
Speak Up: Say What Needs to Be Said and Hear What Needs to Be Heard* by Megan Reitz and John Higgins
Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
How to Ask Better Questions, with David Marquet (episode 454)
How to Speak Up, with Connson Locke (episode 546)
How to Use Power Responsibly, with Vanessa Bohns (episode 551)
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