Use Your Voice

Invitations to important decision making or critical discussion tables don’t happen every day. And even if they do, something is required of you. Your voice.

Know your role. Whatever the table, it’s important to know in advance what your role is in the meeting. Are you there to contribute new ways of thinking through a problem or opportunity? Are you there to support a team member in their leadership of an important initiative? Are you there to build a bridge between teams that are not aligned? Are you there to support status quo thinking?

Know who is sitting at the table with you. Be sure to get the names and titles (if you don’t know them) of those who you’ll be meeting with. Also inquire as to whether there will be external folx in attendance and what their role is in the meeting.

Understand the situation. Be clear about what led up to the meeting you are attending. Maybe you’ve been a part of the situation all along so you’re clear about “what’s what”. If you’ve been asked to attend the meeting for a specific reason, make sure that you know the full story of how folx have arrived at this moment. You don’t want to step into something that isn’t clear to you and worsen the situation.

Get a sense of the desired outcome. Talk with the meeting organizer to gain an understanding of the end game for the meeting. You may play an important role in ensuring that meeting goals are met.

If no one calls you into the discussion, call yourself in! Often meetings can be poorly facilitated leaving some voices, accidentally or on purpose, out of the discussion. If that happens to you, call yourself in!

Give up your seat if you feel you cannot add value to the discussion or feel some kind of way about using your voice. Don’t waste the opportunity or other people’s time. At these tables folx will remember who was there and what they contributed. What will you be remembered for?

Be a voice of calm, influence, challenge, agreement, change or whatever the moment calls for. Try better. We’re counting on you.