Use Your Power (Even If It’s Just Controlling the Office Thermostat)
You might not think it matters. Adjusting the thermostat. Telling someone they had a great idea. Actually taking your lunch break, even if your laptop is still balanced on your knee.
Maybe it’s not world-changing. But, maybe you just saved your coworker from freezing. Maybe that was the encouragement someone needed that day. Maybe taking your lunch will inspire a colleague to do the same.
It might not sound like advocacy, but it is. If you have a seat at the table, use it. Even if it’s just the table that decides what’s for lunch. And if you don’t have that seat, the break room counts. So does the group chat.
Because you don’t know how much your actions matter.
And you might just be the voice that someone else needs.
Here Are Five Ways to Use Your Power (Big or Small):
1. Notice and name what’s good.
When you point out something good, you’re training your brain to look for more of it. Once you start noticing something, it feels like it’s everywhere. And the people around you? They might just start spotting it too.
2. Back someone up.
When you echo someone’s idea, you help it land. This taps into the social proof effect. The more a message is supported, the more people pay attention. You’ll start noticing how often good ideas get missed, and others will start noticing they can speak up too.
3. Share the win.
Giving someone else credit rewires the group to share recognition more freely. That’s everyday advocacy: changing the rules without announcing it.
4. Ask the extra question.
A quick “How are you really doing?” can change the game for someone, or for a working relationship. You’ll notice the human behind the job title more often, and they’ll start doing the same.
5. Take care of yourself without apology.
When you model rest, boundaries, or even just taking a proper lunch, people will follow that lead, and it quietly changes a culture.
Advocacy isn’t only the big, public moments. It’s shaping the space you’re in, one conversation, one choice, one lunch break at a time. Every time you speak up, back someone, or shift the culture in even the smallest way, you’re making your community better from the inside out. That’s advocacy.