Harvard Business Review - Speak Up, Speak Out (HBR Women at Work Series)

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First eBook Edition: Jan 2022

ISBN: 978-1-64782-222-4

eISBN: 978-1-64782-223-1

INTRODUCTION

by Amanda Kersey, producer of Women at Work

I rarely said anything during the morning meeting in my first full-time job as a production assistant in a newsroom. I had ideas, no doubt. But I was shy and intimidated not only by the sheer number of people crowded together in that conference room but also by how many of them were quick to interrupt, put down, or just tune out anyone they didnt care to hear from. The threat of ridicule kept me quietand frustrated. Id majored in journalism hoping to start somewhere like this. Editors in this room had hired me to be here. And now that I was, why couldnt I get the words out?

Looking back, I cut myself slack for not speaking up much: A lot of us struggle. Its not only because theres a learning curve to being able to break into a discussion and say what you came to say while deflecting interrupters. (I remember longing to raise my hand or praying someone would call on me.) Its also that working on a team means encountering stifling biases, like old-fashioned, lingering expectations that women be agreeable and passive. Handling incivility and other barriers to a healthy exchange of ideas requires knowledge and practice.

Helping readers and listeners leverage their voices to better their careers and workplaces has been a goal of Women at Work from the beginning. Our debut podcast episode focused on communication, and since then weve covered various aspects of speaking up including the art of claiming credit, strategic self-disclosure, how to maneuver around double standards when announcing a decision youve made, how to press a boss for useful feedback. Knowing how to speak up against individuals and systems that try to silence women is just as critical, which is why we also cover, on the podcast and in this book, tactics for confronting sexual harassment and racism.

Improvising an appropriate response to harassment and hate is difficult. If youre the target, the emotional shock can make responding inconceivable. If youre the witness, the misconduct can leave you speechless, especially if youve never prepared for work to go so far south. The strategies, sample language, and leadership skills detailed in this collection give you options for dealing with uncomfortable scenarios before youre in them.

After several years of working at HBR and producing Women at Work , I marvel at how Im now usually able to express what in the past I would have held inside. I dont just contribute to meetings; I run them. I give presentations. I moderate live events. How did I get here? In part, by following what Ive learned from the show about speaking up, such as Amy Bs advice for getting over ourselves: Its not about you; its about the idea. And when you get to that point, you liberate yourself from all those doubts and you make it so much easier to get your ideas across. That perspective helped me release some self-doubt, and I spoke more fluidlyjust as she said I would.