On this episode of The Courage Hotline — The Courage To Give Your Boss Feedback — I’m serving up advice to a professional whose director called her “cringe-worthy aggressive.” She is unsure how to speak up and manage her boss’s perception of her. I’m also sharing strategies to evaluate courage to get to the choice of speaking up.

Key Moments

1. [5:30] Most people want courage because of three things: to speak up, to step up, and to show up authentically without censoring themselves. 
2. [7:50] When there is no trust, especially on a team in the workplace, there isn’t really the highest level of creativity, contribution, and engagement.
3. [9:00] In all matters of courage, there will be disruption.
4. [10:28] There are three components to evaluate to have the courage to give feedback your boss feedback: the risk, the reason you would take that risk, and the internal resources for persevering through that risk. 
5. [11:31] There are at least two sides to risk: taking action and not taking action.
6. [12:49] We must look at what we might lose if we take action and what we might lose if we don’t take action.
7. [15:52] To have the courage to give your boss feedback, we must have the technique or strategy on what to say and how to say it. If we have that, we can feel more confident about moving forward. 
8. [19:24] Deal with the impact of the feedback and not the intentions. 
9. [20:53] Appeal to the good in people that they believe about themselves. 
10. [21:28] Understanding and adapting to people’s work style is a great recipe for greater impact.

Mentions

Own Your Brilliance Retreat: The Own Your Brilliance Weekend Retreat is an intimate and immersive experience to help young professional Black women conjure the courage to show up, step up and speak up at work — without apprehension or apology. It’s time to stop playing games with your potential. Learn more about attending or sponsoring a participant.

The Theory Of Hedonic Asymmetry by Nico H. Frijda

We’re In A Crisis Of Trust – News article by Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC

Everything DiSC – Personal and professional development learning tool

Submit Your Question to the Show

Do you need courage to give your boss feedback? Make moves towards starting your own business? Step into a new leadership role? Walk away from a relationship?

Submit your situation to The Courage Hotline podcast and let me help you. It’s simple. Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to info@candacedoby.com. And, you may be featured on the next episode.

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