1 Reason Sensitive Voices = Silenced at Work (It's not that!)

How this one thing fuels control in work—and why creative, equitable work spaces depend on healing it.

You might think it’s ego. Or ignorance. Or just bad management. But the real reason vulnerable voices are silenced in workspaces often runs deeper. It’s something buried under layers of policy, professionalism, and performance. When someone speaks with emotional honesty, it threatens the fragile systems some have built to survive. And instead of meeting vulnerability with care, they utilise authority to shut it down. It’s often the result of deep-seated conditioning, but when disguised as leadership and left unexamined, it can cause real harm. Especially when that one thing is disguised as leadership, and the harm is denied.

You’ve likely seen it—maybe even felt it. The moment someone in a position of authority stiffens, redirects, or shuts down when another speaks vulnerably. The subtle fear of powerlessness can shape entire dynamics in workspaces, classrooms, collectives, and campaigns. For those who speak from the raw, the tender, and the honest, these power plays don’t just bruise—they silence. But what if control isn’t confidence? What if it’s an old wound, replaying itself through policy, structure, and unspoken rules? In this piece, we explore how individuals shaped by a deep-seated fear of powerlessness, who unconsciously assert dominance, often unknowingly, suppress vulnerability in work and education spaces—and how reclaiming emotional honesty could be the most radical shift of all.