DeepSummary
Brené Brown interviews Megan Reitz, a professor of leadership and dialogue, and John Higgins, a researcher on speaking truth to power in organizations, about their article "Leading in an Age of Employee Activism" in the MIT Sloan Management Review. They discuss how employee activism is becoming more prevalent, with over half of employees surveyed saying they speak up to influence organizational action on societal and environmental issues.
Reitz and Higgins outline six ways organizations respond to employee activism, from suppression to stimulating activism. They emphasize the importance of leaders fostering dialogic engagement by seeking out different perspectives and making decisions collectively with employees. They also introduce the ACT-IF framework for understanding factors that affect personal and organizational responses to activism.
The conversation highlights the challenges leaders face in navigating employee activism, such as unlearning assumptions, embracing vulnerability, and truly listening to concerns. Reitz and Higgins stress the need for leaders to create environments where all voices can be heard and to recognize the power dynamics and systemic issues at play.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Employee activism around societal and environmental issues is on the rise, with over half of employees surveyed saying they speak up to influence their organizations.
- Organizations respond to employee activism in different ways, ranging from suppression to stimulating activism through actions like promoting activists and paying bail.
- Leaders need to foster dialogic engagement by seeking out diverse perspectives, making decisions collectively with employees, and creating environments where all voices can be heard.
- The ACT-IF framework (Authority, Concern, Theory of Change, Identity, Field) can help understand factors influencing personal and organizational responses to activism.
- Leaders must interrogate their own assumptions and reactions to activism, embrace vulnerability, and challenge systemic power dynamics to truly address employee concerns.
- Generational shifts, with millennials and Gen Z more likely to hold organizations accountable on societal issues, are driving the rise of employee activism.
- Effective leadership in this age requires moving from a knower mindset to a learner mindset, unlearning assumptions, and recognizing the entwined nature of power and truth.
- Direct manager-employee relationships are crucial in determining whether employees feel they can speak up and be heard within an organization.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If whistleblowing is the answer, ask a better question.“ by John Higgins
- “How you show up affects my voice.“ by Ian Wilkie
- “If you haven't got people speaking up with ideas in your business, and you haven't got people challenging or often offering different perspectives, there's no hope for innovation or agility.“ by Megan Reitz
- “The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.“ by John Higgins
- “There are no voiceless. The problem is finding ears for the earless.“ by Brené Brown
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Episode Information
Dare to Lead with Brené Brown
Vox Media Podcast Network
2/28/22