We all learn from the hidden curriculum
Most of these lessons are not delivered through policies, values statements or training.
They are learned through everyday interactions.
The questions below are designed to help leaders and individuals reflect on the messages being sent and received.
- Who receives recognition and appreciation?
- Who is taken for granted?
- Are support functions and business services treated as contributors or costs?
- Who gets thanked publicly?
- How do people speak about those with less power?
- How are support staff, junior colleagues and underperformers discussed?
- Are there groups who are routinely talked about rather than talked with?
- What behaviours are rewarded in practice?
- What behaviours are quietly discouraged?
- Is there a penalty for speaking up?
- Is there a penalty for doing the right thing?
- Who is included in important conversations?
- Who is invited into informal networks?
- Do people feel they can succeed without becoming someone they are not?
If a new joiner spent a week observing your organisation, what would they conclude about who matters, who belongs, what success looks like, how power operates and what it takes to get ahead?
Most people encounter moments at work that leave them uncomfortable, surprised or conflicted.
Not every moment requires action. But every moment contains information.
- What happened?What specifically occurred?
- Why did it bother me?What emotional reaction did I have?
- What message did I hear?What assumptions or expectations were being communicated?
- What value might this be touching?What principle feels challenged?
- Is this a one-off or part of a wider pattern?What other evidence do I have?
- What options are available to me?Can I discuss it, challenge it, raise it or simply reflect on it?
- Who can help me think it through?What trusted person could act as a sounding board?
Silence does not always mean agreement. Sometimes it means people have assessed the risks differently.
Discomfort does not always mean something is wrong. Sometimes it is a sign that you are learning something important about yourself.
