Leadership
As a leader of a team, have you ever wished your team would contribute more of their talents?
That:
Leadership
How often do you tell people to “speak up more”?
In any case, you have a sense that you are missing out on useful, sometimes critical information when people do not speak to you or don’t speak up in meetings.
Read more “Stop telling people to ‘speak up more’ if you want them to speak up”
Leadership
In boardrooms and executive teams, risk management is a standing agenda item. Leaders invest in policies, audits, insurance, and compliance systems. But often, one critical ingredient does not get enough attention — and it’s not a policy or a framework. It’s listening.
Read more “Listening – the underrated tool for risk management”
Diversity and Inclusion
When we talk about inclusion, we often focus on individual backgrounds and characteristics —such as culture and race, gender, religion, sexual orientation etc. — and creating spaces where everyone feels a sense of belonging. These are critical components of inclusion, but they are just the beginning. A deeper, often overlooked layer of inclusion is how we engage with people whose ideas, values, or perspectives differ from our own.
Read more “Are you inclusive if you don’t listen to people you disagree with?”
Conversation
The concepts of meritocracy and diversity are sometimes perceived as being at odds with one another. Some people believe that a focus on merit is not inclusive, nor does it achieve diversity, while others feel that D&I initiatives dilute merit-based decisions. This thinking has created divisions between those who have supported D&I efforts and those who question it.
Read more “Spot and develop your hidden talent to advance Meritocracy AND Diversity and Inclusion”
Diversity and Inclusion
Did you know that what you listen to or reject depends on who is speaking much more than the actual content of what is shared?
For example, you might:
Diversity and Inclusion
There is a multiplying cost to organisations, when they undervalue Quietly Powerful leadership.
I continue to hear from people in organisations that there is a bias towards more outspoken, confident appearing styles as what’s needed to be promoted into leadership.
The obvious cost of this bias is that quieter professionals are overlooked for leadership positions, even if they have the potential for leadership. This is the gap between leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness (to read more, read this article).
Read more “There are multiplying costs to undervaluing Quietly Powerful leadership”
Diversity and Inclusion
I wish I didn’t have to share this lesson 8 years after starting Quietly Powerful.
It has also been 12 years since Susan Cain‘s book, “Quiet”, and her TED talk went public, and there have been many other authors and coaches sharing ideas on quietness – whether it’s to do with introversion, cultural conditioning, power dynamics including silencing.
Despite all of this work, there still seems to be a stigma for being quiet. It’s a reality that can’t be ignored.
Read more “Sadly, there is still a stigma for being quiet”
Conversation
If you assume that someone who is quiet is an introvert, you could completely miss the opportunity to create an environment where they can flourish and contribute their best. Of course, it is very possible that the person 𝘪𝘴 an introvert. But introverts are not always quiet, and not all quiet people are introverts! People can be quiet due to:
Read more “Don’t assume that a person being quiet is an introvert”
Diversity and Inclusion
If we want to advance DEI and lift the quality of leadership, we need to focus on upgrading the system, along with unlocking individual potential.
Maintaining the status quo and trying to integrate those who are not in the majority, is an easy trap to fall into. It is easier for the majority as they don’t have to do anything. However, the collective then misses out on growth and evolution.
Read more “We need to stop trying to ‘fix’ people who don’t fit the majority”