From the course: Sustainable LGBTQ+ Allyship
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Removing the power dynamic in conversations
From the course: Sustainable LGBTQ+ Allyship
Removing the power dynamic in conversations
- Imagine you're in a work meeting and your coworker Paul is dismissive of the word cisgender. He says something like, now I'm cisgender? It's just too much. I can't keep up with all these words. You now know, of course, that cisgender is a valuable, norm-busting word. So you share your knowledge with Paul, who obviously didn't take this excellent LinkedIn Learning course. But something unfortunate happens. Because you are the educator in the conversation and Paul is the learner, a power dynamic is created. Paul is embarrassed to find himself in the subordinate position of learner. So instead of being open to what you have to say, he gets defensive. Ugh. Let's hit the rewind button and try to reduce or completely get rid of that pesky power dynamic, so Paul's ears will be open to what you have to say. I have two tips that should help. Start with a connecting statement and assume goodwill. Connecting statements…
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