Speaking up: a Micro-leadership Moment

This post is the second in a series of four, where we discuss ‘speaking up’ conversations and how these conversations require leadership, in the moment decision making and positive receivership to be successful. If you haven’t already read part one, it’s available to read here.

As discussed in our last past, being a leader doesn’t always require formal positional power: there are moments in our daily lives where we can choose to be the lion, instead of the kitten. We often don’t immediately view these moments as ‘leadership moments’, but they are; they are ‘micro-leadership’ moments, and in these moments, we can all be leaders. So, what are micro-leadership moments?

Micro-leadership moments are when, regardless of role or seniority, an individual steers a conversation or makes a decision in the moment that influences others(1). For example, the person speaking up does not have to be the most senior person present, or of a particular discipline, but their decision to speak up takes courage. It requires conscious effort and is undoubtedly a leadership moment.

Micro-leadership also means being able to change direction in the moment based on newly presented information and being able to create a new frame or mental model in that moment(2). What I have realised through my work as a clinician, in leadership roles and co-developing communication programs such as Mater Education’s Speaking With Good Judgement© program, is that it is vitally important to teach people how to speak up, and find their courage to do so. Yet we also need to realise that how we receive the message is equally, if not more important and impactful than the action of speaking up. We need to understand that we all have a leadership role to play in speaking up conversations, regardless if you are the person speaking up, or the person being spoken up to.  So when someone speaks up to me, by presenting new information about a patient that I may not have noticed, in that moment I need to listen and acknowledge and have the ability and willingness to change my perception and thought process, or direction of care based on the new knowledge. 

A significant way to demonstrate leadership is being a positive Receiver(3) of the speaking up message.

Join me in the next discussion of the series where we explore the concept of receivership in speaking up conversations.

1.              Edmondson, A.C., Teaming: How organizations learn, innovate, and compete in the knowledge economy. 2012: John Wiley & Sons.

2.              Edmondson, A.C. and D.M. Smith, Too hot to handle? How to manage relationship conflict. California management review, 2006. 49(1): p. 6-31.

3.              Barlow, M., B. Watson, and J. Rudolph, How being a great Receiver can change the game in speaking up conversations. MedEdPublish, 2019. 8.