“Speak up!” “Bring your whole self to work!” This invitation (or is it a command?) has been ringing down the hallways and Zoom calls of many organizations in the past few years. Leaders should hardly be surprised when employees take that invitation at face value and speak up on political issues they deeply care about: Climate change, human rights issues in the supply chain, sexism, and racism.
Don’t Ban “Politics” at Work
Instead, find ways to help your team respect, listen to, and learn from one another.
July 07, 2021
FRANCESCO ZERILLI/ZERILLIMEDIA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images
Summary.
With political polarization on the rise and companies gauging the risks of employees’ internal political activism, some are opting to ban political speech at work entirely. The authors, experts in speaking up at work, explain the pitfalls of this approach and instead suggest asking a different question: How can we support employees and encourage them to handle difference, respect one another, listen, and learn? The answer, they suggest, requires four actions on the part of leaders: Building empathy and respect for others’ views, inviting different perspectives into the leadership fold, accepting mistakes gracefully, and teaching people how to disagree.