From the perspective of the intern, the risks of speaking up to her boss include: having her manager and potentially Emma and other people at the company thinking she is difficult to work with and/or potentially losing her internship. On the flip side, the risks of accepting the ethically dubious task could involve jeopardizing her reputation and chances with future employers if she is caught misrepresenting herself as well as getting into trouble with and reflecting poorly on her MBA program.
This is the 3-step plan I think Susan should follow:
1) First, realize how psychologically difficult — and worthwhile — speaking up can be.
Susan should implement “realistic optimism,” which it looks like she is already doing. She is aware of the consequences of speaking up to her boss and knows that it will be a difficult, challenging task. In addition, she is aware of how “worthwhile” or ethically important it is to speak up. She has weighed the risks involved with speaking up with the risks involved with staying quiet through conversing with her father and work friend. Because she realizes this task of speaking up will be psychologically difficult but that it is important to do, she will me more likely to follow through with the choice to speak up.
2) Second, work to lessen the social threat that speaking up creates.
In order to make it clear that Susan is not “out to get” or “attributing ill will” to her boss or Emma, she should make sure to use “we” as much as possible in her email to her boss and Emma. She should use a collaborative tone and come at the issue as if she is simply providing feedback on the potential negative impacts that the task could bring on. By doing so, she will not have an accusatory tone or be making any assumptions about her boss’s intent. She will come at the issue with a tone of relatedness and a”we’re all on the same side” approach, which will reduce the social threats involved with speaking up.
3) Make a plan.
Susan should make a plan to send an email to her boss and Emma in the next X days (1-2 days maybe?). She should write a draft of her email and perhaps share it with her dad or friend to get feedback on her wording/tone of the email. She should then implement any feedback she deems as important and then send the email by the X days deadline she set for herself in the beginning.
