- The linked article that I concentrated on was titled Make Your Meetings a Safe Space for Honest Conversation by Paul Axtell. The reason Wynn chose to include this resource in her argument was because it solidified her idea that many employees struggle to have their misgivings voiced and actually taken into consideration. Many of their voices are ignored altogether by superiors within the employee’s company. Wynn’s entire argument relies on the fact that too many companies disregard their workers needs and concerns especially in relation to diversity and aspects of a person’s individual identity.
Axtell’s article states a way in which managers can potentially create safe spaces where employees can share their concerns and issues, or just talk freely without the fear of not being heard. He heard about this method from a meeting and it made an lasting impact on him, hence why he wanted to share it. The person Axtell discovered it from would have occasional “no secrets” meetings, where the manager of his specialization would treat his employees to pizza and everyone would talk freely. They would use broad openers to create conversation and encourage everyone to be as honest as they could. This method would foster a sense of camaraderie, trust, and respect for everyone.
He then goes through helpful advice for potential leaders to achieve these ‘safe places’. The leaders should start with asking for permission, to address things that may already be assumed gives the group more trust since everything spelled out exactly. Next, the leader should make sure that he/she empowers and encourages the people in the group to all share and contribute to the conversation in a way they are comfortable reaching out. This should all be done while promoting the idea of safety within the talk and ensuring that everyone is listening and being respectful.
The reason this article goes so well with Wynn’s article is due to the fact that they contrast each other. Wynn speaks about how companies tend to lack a sense of trust because organizations, in many cases, do not make the effort to address and change the inequalities on a companywide scale and, instead, blame the injustices on the individual and society. By linking Axtell’s article, Wynn shows an exact way in which companies and leaders can promote unity and create trust between coworkers.
2. I think that people in charge of organizations and the men and women who hold leadership positions within organizations would benefit the most from Wynn’s article. The reason I believe this is her target audience is because of the quote “If you were an executive tasked with reducing gender inequality in your organization, how would you do it?” To me, this quote is the reason Wynn wrote this article: to address all the places organizations allow these inequalities to thrive, instead of stopping the issues at their roots.
The passage titled Recruiting is a place where the organization can make a big change and a place where these leaders can see where their biases often take place, creating the necessity to target them in this article. This is “the very first moment organizations interact with potential candidates” and where “biases can infiltrate the process”. Therefore, the superiors in these companies should address their inequality problems as soon as possible in the process.