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ELAINE LIN HERING, J.D.
Author, Speaker, & Facilitator
Unlearning Silence
Too often, working within a system seems to require us to silence ourselves. To play the game. To cater to stakeholders. To follow their priorities and preferences. Whether we’re the first, the few, or the only, how we want to lead and the things we care about can get drowned out. And our silence breeds silence, sending messages to the people we lead that we might not intend.
Elaine unpacks the insidious role silence plays in our leadership and offers tangible strategies for what to do instead.
As a result of the session, learners will be able to:
- Identify the ways that they have learned and benefited from silence
- Choose levels of directness that best support their desired outcomes
- Actively design communication patterns that make it easier for them to speak up
- Make intentional choices for the team culture they are building
Speaker Bio
Elaine Lin Hering a facilitator, author, and speaker. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management.
She has worked on six continents and facilitated executive education at Harvard, Dartmouth, Tufts, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. She is the former Advanced Training Director for the Harvard Mediation Program and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She has worked with coal miners at BHP Billiton, micro-finance organizers in East Africa, mental health professionals in China, and senior leadership at the US Department of Commerce. Her clients include American Express, Chevron, Google, Nike, Novartis, PayPal, Pixar, and the Red Cross.
She is the author of the book Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully (Penguin, 2024).