When speaking up to your boss, most of the risk comes from where you are working. One has to consider how speaking up might look to fellow co-workers, supervisors, and the boss themselves. For the short-term-better and long-term-worse, it can seem disruptful to the existing chain of command at work, which may have gone relatively unquestioned. If Susan finds herself disagreeing with the company at a large scale, she should consider finding a better place, as Josh Bersin recommended. For Susan’s case, she had to consider how speaking up might affect her potential career at Zantech in the future. As many interns know, interning is a “free trial” for the student and the company, and her actions will be remembered. It ultimately might not be worth staying in the long-term if she finds frequent clashes in ethics. On the other side, accepting an ethically dubious task compromises your own personal beliefs and can potentially affect opportunities outside of the company. Susan might end up regretting not speaking up, and that can affect her negatively over time. Externally, if her misrepresentation was revealed outside of the company, that would reflect badly on Zantech and her. She might not get offers from other companies, as her mentor Melinda Sussman noted. While Susan might face tensions from speaking up at the company, she would likely be better in her career for raising her concerns and determining if Zantech is good for her.
Using the suggested plan in “How to Speak Up When It Matters,” Susan should list down all her concerns that we discussed, and acknowledge how they fit in terms of the pros and cons to speaking up. She should also do some research into the culture at Zantech, and with that, form a picture of how likely it might be for things to go smoothly. If there is a chance, and she believes in it, then she should go for it. If she does, she should lessen any confrontational tone in the discussion, and approach it as a concern for the office and the company. Any research she did beforehand can help support her in this, such as if there were any past cases where the company benefitted from a worker’s concern. Finally, making a plan for the possible outcomes would help her stick to her beliefs while reducing any uncertainty on her part. It helps her create actionable steps for the best and worst outcomes.
