Tag: Executive VOICE
The Executive VOICE
A great leader of a company or movement has the ability to galvanize their followers, bring meaning and vision to their mission, and unite their team into a cohesive unit. Their words and actions are credible, provide clarity, inspire, and influence. They set the wheels in motion and create a level of trust that encourages employees to feel as though they are part of something special.
More than just a presence, The Executive VOICE is a crucial component of a trusted leader. It encompasses what they say, how they say it, and their supporting actions.
Defining Your Voice
The Executive VOICE is a framework that contains essential elements of a personal brand in content, body, and utterance. In addition, there are brand elements that encompass what it means to be a success. These have been developed over years of trial and error, formal and informal education, experts in numerous fields, and a lifetime of experience breathing years into my life.
VOICE stands for:
- Values, which speak to a leader’s sound character
- Openness, or the ability to embrace possibility
- Intentionality, which means being deliberate in words, thoughts, and actions
- Consistency, demonstrated by knowing what to expect and reliance on follow-through
- Energy involves the ability to move work forward and get things done
Share Your Voice with the World
Let’s dive into each component of VOICE and what makes it so critical to an executive’s success.
What I’ve discovered about effective leadership is this.
- Values: Character is considered an essential trait of a leader. When we know and understand one’s character, we have a greater sense of what they stand for, what moves them, and why they do what they do. It is intoxicating to be in the presence of a leader who is clear about who they are and what is necessary to accomplish goals and then gets it done! Demonstrating character makes it easier to gain the trust and respect of those they lead.
- Openness: Leaders embrace possibility. Debbie Downer and the Devil’s Advocate are not welcome characteristics of someone who can inspire hope and assurance of getting through challenging issues that arise routinely. A leader breathes life into ideas, resulting in them taking action to move an initiative forward.
- Intentionality: Being deliberate regarding your actions, words, and thoughts, informing those actions and words, so they have an intended impact. This level of consciousness in leadership allows you to hit the mark time after time.
- Consistency is the name of the game in business. Consistency breeds its own. A Royal Family of consistency will set the stage for long-term impact and resiliency. Think of it as a powerful legacy-building tool.
- Energy: You are measured by what you get done well! Otherwise, you are simply performative and lacking transformative leadership ability. Having a higher consciousness and heightening the consciousness of others to recognize and act for necessary change is the platinum rule; Find out what makes people tick and lead from there!
Interpreting Your Voice
As with any character trait, there will be those with a different perception that misinterpret intentions. It is no different with the Executive VOICE.
Let me explain:
- A leader’s character defines who they are and what they stand for. The other side is that they can be held to these values by a strict code. This makes it difficult for them to change and adapt. They can also be judged by their values. Feeling strongly about something, they risk alienating others.
- A leader’s openness to embrace possibility may lead others to accuse them of being an idealist. Employees might think their ideas or deadlines are unrealistic when they are challenged.
- Leaders may be deliberate in their thinking and actions and be accused of being inauthentic. A natural mistrust in leaders can undermine their ability to act.
- In developing a personal brand, a leader runs the risk of dehumanizing themselves. Great leaders keep their sense of empathy while staying authentic to their values.
- A leader’s “get-it-done” attitude can be misinterpreted as setting relentless and unrealistic team expectations.
Clear Communication is Key
I recently worked with a manager in a large global firm in developing their equity partnership skills. Early in our coaching relationship, I noticed a lack of partnership when setting up each professional development session. I found myself routinely exchanging numerous emails to get a session scheduled. Sometimes weeks would pass before we could settle on a firm date.
I discovered that the manager seemed to drag out the time between sessions by offering little detail or simply incomplete details. This required me to send numerous emails asking clarifying questions that rarely seemed to be answered the first time. It got to the point where I felt I was more responsible for their leadership development than they were willing to commit to for themselves. It was only a feeling, mind you.
The next time I received a cryptic email lacking the necessary information to book the next session, I drew from past behaviors instead of sending a response with numerous questions. I brought them to the manager’s attention as they applied the same challenges and goals we set to grow their leadership acumen. The manager acknowledged my point and provided the most detailed and complete correspondence, bringing back-and-forth emails to an abrupt end.
Lesson Learned: When developing your leadership capability, look at how your challenges and successes align with the growing edge goals you set for yourself to develop. We lead as we are and how we behave.
Effective Leadership Styles
There are two main branches of leadership – transactional and transformational. Transactional leaders use a system of rewards and punishments to ensure they achieve a goal. As long as the followers’ basic needs are met, they are compliant.
Transformational leaders inspire growth, promote loyalty, and instill confidence in their teams. Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were well-known examples of transformational leaders. They stood out from the crowd and led companies and movements.
Those that work for transformational leaders show a 78.1% performance increase, and over half say their skills have improved under transformational leadership. Statistics also show that the number of true transformational leaders hovers at less than 10%. No wonder we gravitate towards those who even show some of their character traits.
A transformational leader models the ideal traits of the Executive VOICE.
- Model the Way – a transformational leader acts in the same way they want their group to act. They can explain where they want to take the organization and how the success relies on each individual. Through inspiration and enthusiasm, a transformational leader can influence motivation in others.
- Encourage the Heart – a transformational leader encourages and supports followers by keeping lines of communication open. They are engaged with their followers creating a sense of connection. They understand how personal life interacts with professional work, and teams are encouraged to use their life experiences to enhance their work.
- Inspire Shared Vision – while a leader may be responsible for the overall vision, their strength lies in engaging their followers by helping them experience the same motivation and passion for achieving those goals. Transformational leaders bring meaning to work, inspiring a vested interest while challenging enough to keep their interest.
- Enable Others to Act – when focused on long-term success, a transformational leader allows flexibility in how the teams get there. They empower their followers and trust them to rise to the occasion. Not everyone approaches a task the same way. Some offer a sense of urgency and thrive in completing the task. Others take a little longer and focus on the process. The result is often the same.
- Challenge the Process – a transformational leader will not only think outside the box, they may also ignore the box altogether, pushing out the walls to make the box bigger and roomier. They challenge business as usual and encourage creativity. Other character traits include comfort with ambiguity and complexity.
Let Your Voice Be Heard
“Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.” Steve Jobs
A transformational leader applies the Platinum Rule, which states to treat others as they want to be treated rather than how you want to be treated. This involves an awareness of each follower’s fundamental need for self-actualization. This is the top tier of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Once you get a person on board with their heart and soul, they will do great things for your vision.
“A leader who fails to use their full voice will often share information that will go unheard and unseen for its significance.” Byron Darden
With persistence, you can develop the traits of a transformational leader. Creativity can be learned. Empathy and a desire to make a difference can be strengthened. Do you want to know how? Book a call, and I’ll show you how to take the next step toward becoming a transformational leader and letting the world hear your voice.