No Regrets: What’s at risk of we do not speak out?

As communicators, what is at risk of we do not speak out? I ask this of my clients all the time. We often focus on fears around possible negative outcomes if we DO speak out: What if I get fired? What if they laugh at me? What if she leaves me? What if I am shamed? Cast out? Abandoned? What if I hurt them? What if I say it wrong? What if…

All of these are valid fears and potentially life-altering answers will come back to us.

And yet…What is at risk if we do not speak up?

What is at risk in our homes, in our workplaces, in our world, if our voices are silent?  What jobs are lost? What lessons untold and unlearned? What relationships left to ossify?  What ideas never considered? What heartbreak caused?  What journeys not taken?  What gifts not received?  What movements left to inertia?  What opportunities squandered?  What regrets held?

This week, whenever we find ourselves afraid to speak out, consider what is at risk if we are silent?

Then, if we decide to speak up, we use all the skills and tools we have to make sure that our words have sway: our intention is clear; it includes and is for the audience/the other; we have practiced; we have checked our defensiveness at the door; we understand that we can always ask and make our selves known. If we use all of our skills, communicate with care and clarity, and do not get what we want, we have no regrets; we may not know the true impact of our words, they may be seeds planted, but we do know that if nothing else, speaking up gives us a deeper sense of self.