Ethically speaking up at work

If you haven’t been there, you will be at some point. What am I talking about? Situations when your conscience requires that you say something at work. But it’s not that simple: Speak up, yes, but still keep your work status, avoid making internal enemies, and live to fight another day. Here are some thoughts—mixed with some of my own—on how best to strike this delicate balance from a March 4, 2019, Harvard Business Review article titled “How to Speak Up When It Matters” by Khalil Smith, Heidi Grant, and David Rock.

Thought No. 1: Not everything is a crisis of conscience

Pick your battles. If everything is an ethical dilemma, then nothing is an ethical dilemma. Ask questions of yourself: Is the proposed course of conduct that you disagree with going to end up hurting someone? Will it seriously harm the company or have the potential to do so? Is the proposed conduct such that—if I were on the receiving end—I would be legitimately upset?

Remember that when you speak up you are spending the political capital you have earned at work. Be sure you are spending it wisely.

Thought No. 2: Speaking up is harder to do than you think

You think, “Of course, I would speak up!” The article notes that it’s psychologically difficult to do so in ethically charged situations. It won’t feel easy to do.