People often don't speak up in meetings out of fear, a sense of futility, a lack of confidence, or because they just can't be bothered. But active participation and speaking up can significantly advance visibility and career prospects. So leaders and participants alike need to take responsibility for making meetings meaningful and encouraging open communication.

Betina Szkudlarek is a professor in International Management at the University of Sydney Business School. Betina has conducted extensive research on why people often do not voice their opinions and what can be done to encourage people to speak up. In this episode, she shares findings from her research, and offers practical steps for both leaders and participants to ensure everyone’s voice is heard…not just the loudest.

Three reasons to listen

• Understand the common reasons why people often refrain from speaking up in meetings and how it impacts team dynamics
• Learn strategies to encourage active participation and meaningful discussions in meetings
• Discover the importance of restructuring meeting formats to facilitate better engagement and contribution from all attendees

Episode highlights

• [00:08:13] What Betina found in her research
• [00:12:09] Common reasons people don't speak up
• [00:15:34] Administrative bloat
• [00:17:52] Disengagement in meetings
• [00:22:16] Making space for introverts
• [00:25:53] What participants can do in meetings
• [00:29:55] How family dynamics play out in meetings
• [00:32:04] Make just one contribution
• [00:33:14] Betina's media recommendation
• [00:34:54] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Betina via LinkedIn
• Doing Silence: How Silence Is Produced in Meetings – Betina’s research
• The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work, by Mats Alvesson and Andre Spicer
• Harnessing the power of silence – Episode 85, with Bastian Overgaard
• Leave us a voice note

How much responsibility do leaders have for the psychological safety of their teams? Aren’t psychological hazards an HR issue?

Recent changes in Australian law require employers to take steps to ensure not only the physical but also the psychological safety of their employees. This includes identifying and mitigating psychosocial hazards in the workplace, which can have a profound impact on employees' mental health. But what is “reasonable”?

This week's guest is Ian Bennett, a legal expert specialising in employment and safety law. He lends his expertise to discussions on workplace safety, specifically focusing on psychological safety and psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Three reasons to listen

• Understand new legislation that necessitates employers to ensure the physical and psychological safety of their employees, currently in place in Australia, but likely to spread
• Learn about the implications of these laws for team leaders and what lessons can be drawn from this approach globally
• Discover how to create healthy, productive workplaces where everyone still strives to do their best work

Episode highlights

• [00:08:18] Expectations on employers to provide psychological safety
• [00:13:40] How is new legislation being implemented?
• [00:16:52] The Australian public's reaction
• [00:20:29] What leaders should bear in mind
• [00:24:57] What employees are entitled to
• [00:27:06] Psychological safety in performance management
• [00:30:15] The downsides of remote work and "always being on"
• [00:32:14] What can leaders do today?
• [00:34:43] Ian's media recommendations
• [00:37:46] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Ian via LinkedIn
• Conversations on Love, by Natasha Lunn
• Ant Middleton’s Head Game podcast
• Leave us a voice note

Imposter syndrome is a common psychological pattern many of us experience. It makes us doubt our achievements, or feel like we’re going to be exposed as a fraud. Imposter syndrome is usually only experienced by high performers, but there are techniques and mindset shifts that can help us, if not “cure” imposter syndrome, then at least manage it.

Clem Pickering is a coach and specialist in the area of imposter syndrome. He has a background in tech, and focuses on supporting leaders in the tech space enhance their people skills and increase their impact. Dan and Pia share their personal experiences with imposter syndrome, and together with Clem explore its prevalence, discuss the impact it has in the workplace, and uncover ways to manage it.

Three reasons to listen

• Learn the differences between imposter syndrome and self-doubt
• Understand how imposter syndrome affects high-performing people and its prevalence across genders
• Discover coping mechanisms and strategies for dealing with imposter syndrome

Episode highlights

• [00:08:15] What is imposter syndrome?
• [00:13:10] Imposter syndrome vs self-doubt
• [00:16:00] Imposter syndrome and gender
• [00:18:23] Settling your imposter
• [00:22:39] Normalising imposter syndrome within teams
• [00:26:31] Competence vs confidence
• [00:31:40] First steps you can take
• [00:33:03] Clem's media recommendation
• [00:34:17] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Leave us a voice note
• The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women (And Men): Why Capable People Suffer from Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive In Spite of it, by Valerie Young
• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, by Amy Edmondson