Speaking up in Meetings

Many years ago, I used to be the one who always spoke up in large meetings, "speaking truth to power." I would have no qualms challenging the information being presented or asking about a rumor.

In my current job, people tend to stick around and have long memories. In other words, politics and optics play a role in meetings. I found myself making calculations as far as whether bringing something up was "worth it." Would I be unknowingly challenging someone's authority? Encroaching on someone's turf?

Unfortunately, this self-censorship was one of the reasons I had begun disengaging from the group. There were MANY reasons for this, of course. But I have found the current situation, where we are being jettisoned from our home directorate and bureau, to be one in which I don't want to just sit there silently waiting for something to happen. There is so much that can be done, but sometimes the tree needs to be shaken for its branches and leaves to wake up and to get the real fruit to drop down, ready to be eaten.