PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOP SERIES
An interactive workshop for organizations navigating high-stakes political environments
In today’s volatile political climate, organizations face difficult choices about when to stay quiet, when to speak out, and how to act in line with their values. This workshop introduces a practical framework for making strategic decisions under pressure, helping you weigh risks, stay grounded in your mission, and respond with purpose.
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Explore a decision-making framework tailored to authoritarian contexts
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Identify organizational values that guide resistance or compliance
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Assess short- and long-term risks of various response strategies
Our Workshop
Build Stronger,
Values-Driven Leadership
This workshop gives leaders practical tools to make clear, principled decisions in complex situations. Through real scenarios and guided reflection, participants learn how to navigate expectations, assess risks, and act with confidence.
The objective of the When to Comply and When Workshop is to offer leaders practical tools to navigate the tension between meeting expectations and taking a stand. Using clear frameworks and real scenarios, the workshop helps participants assess risks, understand power dynamics, and make principled decisions that strengthen their leadership and their organizations.
Meet your Presenters
This workshop is offered by Dragonfly Partners, a consulting collective that partners with movement organizations, networks, and leaders advancing justice and liberation. As part of Dragonfly’s signature engagements and professional workshop series, it features co-creators as presenters; however, each can be facilitated by any Dragonfly Consulting Partner.
Rooted in a collaborative, curiosity-driven culture, they create an environment where participants feel supported, challenged, and equipped to apply what they learn long after the workshop ends.
Leaders are asked to make difficult choices every day
Leaders face difficult choices because the “right” decision isn’t always obvious, and each option can carry real consequences for people, relationships, and the work itself. They often have to balance expectations, timelines, power dynamics, and personal values, all while navigating uncertainty and incomplete information.
These moments can create pressure, doubt, and conflict, making it challenging to know when to follow directions and when to speak up or push back.
What Compliance Means
in Leadership
Compliance is a deliberate choice to follow expectations or processes because doing so supports the mission, maintains stability, or strengthens relationships. It’s not passive agreement — it’s intentional alignment that keeps teams moving forward.
What Resistance Means
Resistance is the principled decision to push back when a direction or expectation threatens values, community well-being, or long-term impact. It’s a thoughtful intervention rooted in ethics, responsibility, and leadership.
Workshop Practical Tools
The workshop offers practical, repeatable tools for making decisions when the path forward is unclear. The framework is a step-by-step model that helps leaders assess:
What is being asked?
Why is this moment significant?
What is the potential impact of complying or resisting?
Who holds power, and where do I hold influence?
This framework helps participants move from instinct to informed choice.
