Speak Your Truth
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Definition:
Speaking your truth is being authentic, especially when we know our audience won't like what we have to say. For me, authenticity is only effective when it includes respect and tact. When I focus on what is going on for me, how I feel, what I observed, and avoid judging, it is much less threatening for the audience... and more likely to be heard. Speaking your truth is important for self preservation and is an important prerequisite to being fully committed to team goals.
Resources:
http://www.fripp.com/art.speak_truth.html
Agile Retrospectives, Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen
The Core Protocols, Jim & Michele McCarthy
Steps to Mastery:
Never give unsolicited advice (a reformulation of Jerry Weinberg's Fourth Law of Consulting)
Recognize and support how you feel--this includes self esteem, self acceptance, and emotional intelligence
Tell people what you want without demanding they give it to you
Learn to share your predictions/concerns/fears with minimal judging
Recognize it doesn't matter if they are right or wrong--stop campaigning, and validate the feeling behind others' actions/words
Share and maintain a positive image of the future, i.e., avoid negative projections (imagining/anticipating problems) by staying open to better possibilities, be they imagined by someone else or yourself
Organizational Support of this Skill: