Season 4, Episode 7: Unlearning Silence, with Elaine Lin Hering
Elaine Lin Hering joins the Parity Podcast to discuss the role that silence plays in each of our lives. Her 2024 book, Unlearning Silence, explores the ways in which we are silenced in the workplace, and the roles we play in silencing others. Driven by her own experience in being encouraged to speak up, yet not having her words welcomed, Elaine began pondering the larger dynamics in play and the consequences of remaining silent. According to Elaine, finding one's voice is more than what you say or don't say, it is about how you move through the world and show up. She encourages each of us to work on unlearning silence in our own lives to find greater happiness, as well as urges leaders to consider how they are silencing their team members and thereby squelching an open exchange of ideas. Both illuminating and insightful, this episode delivers another round of practical tips for leaders and team members alike.
Links and Resources:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720975/unlearning-silence-by-elaine-lin-hering/
Harvard Business Review, Women Find Your Voice, by Kathyrn Heath, Jill Flynn, and Mary Davis Holt (June 2014), available at hbr.org
Time Magazine, Mazie Hirono Is the Only Immigrant in the Senate (May 17, 2018)
Adam Galinksy, “How to Speak Up for Yourself,” Ideas.TED (Feb. 17, 2017), available at https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-speak-up-for-yourself/.
Albert O. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (Harvard Univ. Press 1970)
