Asking for Truth: Professor Michael Parke on Employee Voice
1 hr 7 min
Michael Parke is an Assistant Professor of Management and the Charles W. Evans Distinguished Faculty Scholar at the Wharton School, where he studies why people speak up at work, why they stay silent, and the role emotions play in both. A Michigan Ross graduate and former captain of the University of Michigan soccer team, he earned his PhD in organizational behavior before becoming a professor. Michael was Bubba’s MGMT 6100 professor during his first year at Wharton, and Bubba later worked with him as a leadership fellow. In this episode, Michael shares what captaining his college team taught him about leading peers, and how sports psychologist Greg Harden pushed him toward a PhD. He explains the two reasons people stay quiet at work, fear and futility, and why most leaders only deal with the first. They also talk about strategic silence and when waiting to speak up helps or hurts, how Pixar makes candor part of the job, how to close the loop when you can’t use someone’s idea, and his new research on naming your emotions when you raise a problem. Key takeaway: Making it safe to speak up is only half the job. If you want the truth, you have to ask for it, and then show people it was worth telling you. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:18 From Michigan to the Business School Classroom 03:52 What Soccer Taught Him About Leading Peers 08:06 Greg Harden and the Push Toward a PhD 11:33 The PhD Grind and Why Support Matters 18:41 Employee Voice: Fear and Futility 25:00 Strategic Silence and the Three R’s 30:11 When Strategic Silence Backfires 33:25 Why the Weight Falls on Leaders 38:09 Pixar’s Brain Trust 43:59 Closing the Loop When You Can’t Use Every Idea 51:13 Why He Keeps Coming Back to MGMT 6100 55:47 New Research: Naming Your Emotions 1:02:00 If You Want the Truth, Ask for It 1:04:20 Managing Your Own Emotions
