Summary
When nobody raises concerns, leaders can easily assume everything is going well. But new research explores how silence can become part of a team's culture, with people gradually learning which issues are better left unspoken. This episode looks at how leaders can recognise and challenge patterns of silence before important problems are overlooked.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to episode 247 of the Leadership Today podcast, where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we look at why teams sometimes stop talking about important issues, even when nobody has explicitly told them to remain quiet.
Imagine you're leading a team meeting and ask whether anyone has concerns about a proposed change. Nobody says anything. You take that as a sign that people are comfortable with the direction and move on to the next agenda item. But afterwards, you discover that several people had serious reservations. They'd discussed them with each other, but nobody wanted to raise them in the meeting. Why does that happen?
We might assume people lack confidence, don't want to appear negative or simply aren't interested enough to contribute. But new research published in Organizational Psychology Review suggests we need to think about silence as more than an individual decision. The researchers brought together existing research to develop a framework for understanding organisational silence cultures. These are environments where certain issues aren't openly discussed, and that silence becomes an established part of how the organisation operates. Silence can prevent problems from being identified, limit innovation and allow ineffective practices to continue.
One of the implications is that people don't necessarily need to be explicitly told to remain quiet. They can learn from observing what happens around them. Imagine someone raises a concern in a meeting and the manager responds defensively. Or perhaps the concern is politely acknowledged but nothing happens. Over time, employees may conclude that raising these issues isn't particularly useful. They might still contribute enthusiastically to other discussions. They might be happy to suggest improvements to minor processes or volunteer for new projects. But when it comes to questioning an important decision or challenging an established practice, they remain quiet.
This silence can be difficult for leaders to recognise. We tend to notice what people say, but it's much harder to notice what they have decided not to say. And when nobody raises concerns, we can mistakenly interpret that silence as agreement.
Here are three things I'd suggest.
First, pay attention to what isn't being discussed. Think about the issues that regularly come up in private conversations but rarely make it into team meetings. Are there recurring frustrations, questionable processes or difficult relationships that everyone seems to know about but nobody openly addresses? Sometimes the most important leadership information is found in the gaps between what people discuss privately and what they're prepared to discuss together.
Second, consider how you respond when someone raises a concern. People are watching what happens when colleagues speak up. If you become defensive, dismiss the issue or immediately explain why nothing can change, you may unintentionally discourage future contributions. You don't have to agree with every concern, but you can acknowledge it, explore it and explain what will happen next.
Third, make previously avoided issues discussable. Rather than simply asking people to speak up more, identify one issue the team has been reluctant to address and create an opportunity to discuss it constructively. You might say, "I get the sense we've been avoiding a conversation about how this process is working. I'd like us to explore what's getting in the way." The aim is to demonstrate that difficult topics can be discussed without people being punished or dismissed.
Bringing all of this together, silence isn't always a sign that people have nothing to say. Sometimes it's a sign of what they've learned about speaking up. So the key question is: "What might people in my team have learned is better left unsaid?"
Thanks for listening, and I look forward to speaking with you again next week.
Reference
Knoll, M., & Bogilovic, S. (2026). Organizational silence cultures: A conceptual framework and integrative review on how they develop, manifest, and persist. Organizational Psychology Review.
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