In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly.
Mark Sanborn
Leadership speaker & author
Unspoken concerns do not disappear; they simply move outside the room. They often surface in the hallway or on team chat, where they are harder to address.
One thing you could do this week to reduce friction and increase flow:
- Individual’s Tip: Speak up about one thing that’s been bothering you. Use “I’ve noticed X, and I’m wondering if we could try Y.”
- Team Leader Tip: Add “speak up moments” to meetings – specifically ask quiet members for input. “Sarah, what’s your take on this? Do you have any suggestions we could try?”
- Executive Leader: Measure who speaks in meetings. If it’s always the same people, you’re missing perspectives. Fix the imbalance.
