Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

First, let me clearly state I don’t want anyone to be a “Karen” and I’m not advocating you escalate everything to a manager or harass people just tryin’ to live their lives. While a Karen displays privilege and rude behavior, there is a lesson we can take away from their misplaced entitlement. 

A Karen has zero problem speaking up and chiming in when she feels she has something to contribute. Think about a time you were in a meeting and something wasn’t going quite right. Maybe the presenter was struggling to connect to the presentation screen, or the audio on a virtual meeting wasn’t working correctly. You may have known how to solve these issues, but if we’re not the meeting host or the person of authority in those settings, it can be a challenge to speak up and offer our hand in solving the problem.

Situations where we can offer advice happen on the regular, like seeing someone trying to insert their chip card backward at the register. Most of us have been conditioned to stay in our lane and mind our own business, but at what cost? When we truly can add value in a situation, we should speak up and offer our advice. That’s how people learn from one another in a cooperative society. 

So while Karens have taken the advice of “speak up” to an unhealthy level, I’d like you to consider channeling a tiny bit of that Karen entitlement if you have trouble speaking up where you can add value. 

If you struggle with the confidence to speak up in meetings or need to polish your presentation skills, I’d love to hear from you! 

~April

april@semiconventional.com

Insta: @semi.conventional 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-lokar/