It’s My Right!

It’s my right to say what I want and feel.

It’s my right to feel safe.

It’s my right to be respected.

These important statements should absolutely be voiced. My enquiry to those that voice them loudly is; “...and tell me how you will exercise these rights whilst also being responsible for how you are respecting the rights of others?”

Recently I attended a facilitated discussion led by an AlphaIC Team member on recent local and national events that were impacting all of us; personally and professionally.

Firstly, I was pleased I was that this topic had been brought up; what we know from painful experience is that pretending things aren’t happening and avoiding tricky conversations is a sure way for unheard voices and repressed emotion to play out later and likely spread fear; affecting relationships, team morale and consequently taking important energy away from our purpose.

My second observation was just how compassionately it had been presented; with such care to put aside (yet not ignore) personal fears, concerns and prejudices in order to eloquently and passionately provide a space for the discussion; for all voices to be heard.

Who we are, our identity and listening to the experience of others is something that can often feel uncomfortable as the topic can lead us to experience triggers that are new; the discussion can take us on a journey of evolution of our own thinking. Whilst all the time, we are carefully asserting our own boundaries around the values and beliefs that we hold closely.

This wasn’t a conversation brought up behind the perceived security of a keyboard; anonymously shouting down others and releasing fear and tension; this was a conversation brought up and facilitated with true courage; between people who valued each other and cared about feelings. There was a risk here that the conversation could cause upset, yet the conversation was raised in spite of this risk. It was raised for the right reasons and handled and beautifully held within the company values. 

Taking these risks takes considerable mental effort and courage. It’s a sign of someone who will live their values, even during challenging times. 

This is a sign of great leadership.

So what does this mean for workplaces?

On a fundamental  level, it highlights again the importance of great leadership qualities; self awareness, emotional intelligence and excellent communication skills. Without these, this team member would not have taken the initiative to bring this up; a topic firmly within their responsibility leading in EDI in the organisation. 

As a company, are you recruiting for these leadership skills or are you still promoting leaders based on self confidence levels and technical ability? A question, I believe, all companies should consider for sustainability, succession planning and risk management. It is your current and future leaders who will be navigating the organisation through future challenges.

In addition, the more abstract, yet extremely important questions are raised around identity and leadership:

Some that initially spring to mind are, as leaders;

• How has our identity evolved and how does it influence how we lead?
• How important is it to consider identity, differences and diversity in our teams and what does this mean for all our People Processes?
• How are individual rights and needs balanced with the rights and needs of the team and the organisation?
• How ready and resilient are we as companies to address any risk or impact of outside influencers and influences on our teams and the effect these can have to our Purpose, People and Profit?

For me, as someone who experiences polarisation within and uses these complexities to harness compassion, and create more diverse and agile systems, I see no challenge in finding the ‘and’. Too many leaders create division through spreading fear around difference; focusing on the ‘either’, ‘or’.

I believe evolved leaders; those who will continue to thrive regardless of the environmental changes and outside influences, will effectively move from fear-based decision-making into harnessing adaptive critical thinking and creative skills which results in intelligent decision-making and intentional change.