{"id":6925,"date":"2021-04-27T15:58:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T22:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knowyourteam.com\/blog\/?p=6925"},"modified":"2024-10-16T12:07:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T19:07:46","slug":"how-political-should-i-let-my-team-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2021\/04\/27\/how-political-should-i-let-my-team-be\/","title":{"rendered":"How political should I let my team be?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There’s been much talk about the degree to which political conversation in the workplace should happen. As a manager, here are a few things to consider.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Political<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There’s been much talk about the degree to which political conversation in the workplace should happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, opinions have been spurred by Basecamp’s announcement<\/a> of their new company policies \u2013 the most controversial of which they are asking employees to not engage in political discussions at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Full disclosure, we, as Canopy<\/a>, are a\u00a0<\/em>spin-off<\/em><\/a>\u00a0of Basecamp back in 2014, and Basecamp holds minority ownership in Canopy to this day.)
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The instinct to want to shut down political conversation is, admittedly, natural.\u00a0<\/strong>Discussing politics\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0exhausting \u2013 irrespective of if it’s at work, at home, over dinner, via the phone. Personally, I can barely handle watching the talking heads on the news yell at each other, let alone engage in conversation with a dear family member whose source of facts is so different from mine that I cannot foresee any possible convergence on the horizon line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, as a CEO, executive, or manager in the context of an organization whose purpose is to try to get work done and make progress toward an outcome \u2013 it can feel perilously distracting. You may feel you’re playing the role of a therapist in your one-on-one meetings or wondering to what degree of activism your team or your company should be playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s tempting to want to turn it all off. To say, “Feel free to have these conversations on your own time, in your own private life, but not here \u2013 they’re dragging down the company.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, rarely does the shutting down<\/em> of energy result in the felt, relieving experience of a release<\/em> of energy.<\/strong> In fact, the opposite.  Stifled feels, well, stifled. Our intention to unburden ourselves, in fact, can create a greater burden for our team in the effort they must now put in to avoid sharing a part of themselves and their lives. Leaders cannot extricate what the team feels is inextricably linked:  our political lives and our work lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying “don’t talk about this…<\/em>” doesn’t lighten the load \u2013 it increases it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn’t have to be this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While uncomfortable and arduous, I do believe it is possible for leaders to hold space for civil political discourse in their own team.<\/strong> Yes, it takes effort. And yes, outcomes may vary depending on your context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, the reality is that there is no other reality. Political events and ideas affect the day-to-day lives of our team members and<\/em> our customers, whether that experience for you or them is pleasant or not, and whether that experience is the same for you as it is for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To not<\/em> consider politics is to ignore one of the many dimensions influencing the context we’re given to lead. After all, as a leader, considering the many factors in our context \u2013 be it the market, our competitors, our customers, our board members, our partners, our employees \u2013 is essential to us leading well. Politics is part of that context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this mean that everyone on your team needs to advocate for certain political candidates, or that everyone should divulge where they stand on every political issue? By all means, no. One extreme does not have to replace another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alternative path exists. Below, I share a few ideas on how we as leaders can answer the question, “How political should I let my team be?” for ourselves \u2013 and what exactly we can do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, root yourself in your organization’s vision.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we consider the question, “How political should I let my team be?<\/em>” one of the first roadblocks we as leaders can get tripped up on is, “I feel that political discussion is a distraction<\/em>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a fair sentiment, as it can feel initially distracting… But, as leaders, we must consider our broader aim of the\u00a0vision<\/a>\u00a0we aspire to \u2013 and the degree to which that politics is relevant, involved, or influences that vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask yourself: “In what way does my team aspires to better the world? To what degree is that world influenced by politics?”<\/strong>\u00a0Be honest with yourself. For us here at Canopy, our vision is a world where bad leaders are the exception and not the norm. That world includes a world where political events and ideas affect employees and managers \u2013 and so we, as Canopy, try to help leaders navigate how to talk about touchy, political topics with their team (hence, this blog post!). We acknowledge that our vision is inextricably tied to the political realities that the managers we serve are facing. As a result, we commit to enabling civil political discourse, internally, as a team.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another vein, large corporations such as Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Starbucks most recently voiced their support to protect voting rights<\/a>, in light of the recent legislative efforts to enact new election requirements. Those corporations have a vision of how they’re bettering the world, and they believe that engaging on this specific political topic affects the better world they are trying to create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For yourself:\u00a0 While you may not be a leader at a large corporation, and while perhaps your organizational vision doesn’t directly interact with political realities as much as we do here at Canopy \u2013 you can still ask yourself the question, “To what degree is the vision we’re aspiring toward affected by politics?<\/em>” to observe the connection that appears.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From this frame, you can gauge for yourself whether political discourse in the workplace, while difficult and time-consuming, is inseparably tied to the vision of your organization \u2013 rather than obscuring it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, don’t assume uniformity + invite alternative opinions.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When engaging in political conversation in the workplace, it can be easy to assume that everyone has similar opinions \u2013 and that everyone wants<\/em> to weigh in. Remove those assumptions, as they can pressure folks into feeling that they can’t be authentic to their own political ideas and viewpoints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, if there is a political issue or event you want to share and discuss, make it clear that you don’t assume everyone will agree with you, and are not asking them to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you’re sending an article about a political event, consider writing something like one of the statements below, accompanying a link to an article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n