From my perspective, when you speak up to your boss, you are risking 2 things from a practical standpoint. The first thing is your job – if your boss doesn’t like you speaking up for whatever reason, he can decide to fire you immediately, and leave you stranded for the foreseeable future. The second thing you risk is your future in whatever industry you are working in. If you gain a reputation for being a person who is hard to work with, it could be potentially more difficult for you to work in the industry in the future.
For the intern in the story, they can follow a 3-step plan for the best odds of success for their scenario. The first step is recognizing how psychologically difficult, but more importantly, worthwhile, speaking up can be. Susan has already figured out that the task at hand is extremely difficult, but if she also thinks about the potential benefits of speaking up, such as having a closer relationship with the CEO, and a more comfortable working environment, it could benefit her. Next, she can work on lessening the social threat, either by first talking with other employees, or framing the conversation in a less threatening light for whomever she will be talking to. Third, the most important thing is to make a plan – no change will come out of doing nothing, and having a plan will help identify possible pain points she might deal with.
