#EveryLittleActionCounts Week 19: Speak – Up!
This week is a call to Speak Up. Speaking up in academia can significantly enhance our well-being by fostering positive, supportive and effective interaction in our organizational cultures.
“Speak your mind even though your voice shakes”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
There are various benefits of speaking up:
Improved Mental and Physical Well-Being: Voicing feelings, issues and problematic situations fosters cultures of open communication and stress reduction. It leads to better individual and collective understanding and supports positive interactions, engagement and collective care.
Enhanced Creativity and Innovation: Speaking up enables the contribution of fresh perspectives, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking and can uncover hidden ideas.
Improve Relationships: Regular voicing of issues fosters stronger relationships and enhances teamwork, creating supportive and positive collegial work environments.
Personal Growth: Every time we speak up or we dare to voice issues we grow a little by reflecting on our own needs and communicating these with others. Doing this we enable collective growth and inclusive development of teamwork and communication.
Overcoming Challenges: Confronting and voicing fears and challenges supports the development of resilience and the ability to manage complex situations by focusing on positive perspectives.
We recommend the following three sources that can support you to speak up.
- The Power of Speaking Up at Work: Overcoming Fear and Fostering Growth
- The Power of Speaking Up – A Reflective Guide
- The Power of Speaking Up
We would be very happy to learn more about your suggestions on speaking up in academia.
Anne-Wil Harzing & Christa Sathish.
