Courage at Work: Lessons from Jim Detert

What stops people from speaking up in the workplace? The two most common reasons are fear and not being equipped with the skills to have difficult conversations. 

A "speak-up culture" refers to a supportive workplace atmosphere where team members can freely share ideas and confront concerns without fear of retaliation or penalty. 

Speak-up cultures typically stimulate greater innovation and problem-solving, vital for sustainable organizational performance. Creating a safe space for people to speak up and speak out, and encouraging them to point out challenging areas and opportunities, also invites a more diverse company culture. 

Jim Detert, the John L. Colley Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and author of Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work, recently spoke with Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance members on this topic. He shared how leaders can create workplaces where courageous actions happen but also where they are less necessary because they have built a culture where people have less fear of sharing different perspectives or taking other prudent risks.

Here are some of the critical actions organization leaders can take to encourage a more courageous culture.

Choose your approach and timing with care

As an organizational leader, be selective of the problems, arguments, and confrontations you get involved in. Detert also discussed the importance of establishing warmth and competence in how you frame your message and actions. What matters most when you talk with employees is what they find compelling and how they perceive you. And sometimes your immediate response is not the best one. Taking a step back to analyze your emotions around a situation and the skills you have to address it can yield a much better result.  

Agree on acceptable and unacceptable behaviors for your team or organization and hold everyone accountable

Whether for a small team or an entire organization, it's essential that everyone knows the ground rules. For example, teams can agree together on what microaggressions are unacceptable. Once everyone is clear, leaders can make sure that people are not being interrupted in meetings, or invite every team member to weigh in on decision-making. 

How you respond to criticism is paramount. For instance, if you find yourself in a situation where someone has approached you with a concern about something you said, you can validate their feelings and underscore that it wasn't your intention. And, you can say that you understand that whatever your intention, you created a negative impact. 

We all make mistakes, so it's essential to know how to address concerns with humility and empathy. Handling missteps in positive and productive ways through healthy dialogue is a way to encourage a more courageous culture.

Highlight the leaders who demonstrate courage  

"A courageous act is nothing more than an action taken for what is perceived to be a worthy cause, despite it being risky." 

It takes courage to point out ways organizations can learn and improve. Calling out brave acts in the workplace promotes organizational growth and makes teams stronger. Highlighting a courageous act makes it easier for others in the workplace to act similarly and not make them feel sidelined for their behavior.  

As we create a safe space for people in the workplace and encourage them to raise challenges and opportunities for new disruptions and innovations, our teams and organizations will thrive.

To encourage people to progress toward being more courageous, Detert suggests taking small steps to start. He shared the idea of a courage ladder, where you break down facing fear into different levels of difficulty. For example, you might first raise an issue one-on-one with a colleague before moving on to raising an objection in a meeting. If even the first step on the ladder feels too challenging, you can begin by simply imagining yourself taking that step.

Learn more about Detert’s research on workplace courage in Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work and find your voice to speak truth to power and build the skills to drive change.