Sunday, March 27, 2011

Finding your leadership voice

For many years, RCA used a painting called His Master’s Voice as its trademark.  The painting featured His Master's Voice, Francis Barraud, late 1800'sa fox terrier named Nipper, looking intently into the megaphone of a record player.  The picture was obviously intended to convey the clarity of the sound – so accurate that the dog would mistake a recording of his master’s voice for the real thing. 

But for someone like me who spends a lot of time thinking about how leaders lead, this painting makes a different point.  We all know that animals, including us humans, identify unique characteristics of a voice and instantly attach meaning to it.  In the same way, every leader has a “voice.”  It’s the culmination of all your behaviors – your decisions, communications, how you listen, how you prepare and even how organized or on time you are. 

All successful leaders, at some point in their careers, have to get a handle on that package that becomes their unique, powerful leadership voice – the voice that people will follow, even through difficult or uncertain times.  People’s commitment to the leader’s purpose is largely based on their level of trust in the voice of the leader.

Top three problems leaders have with their voice

Unfortunately, too many leaders have no idea what they’re saying with their voice – or worse, their voice says something completely different than what they think it does. Here are three of the most common ways leaders misuse their voice.

Problem #1: Audio doesn’t match the video

When a manager’s words and actions conflict, people will follow the actions and forget the words. I recently coached a manager who complained that her direct reports weren’t working together to solve problems before bringing them to her, regardless of what she said to them. As we dug into her behavior with her team, she saw the problem in what her “voice” was telling them.  Down deep, she viewed the team’s decisions as little more than recommendations, so she frequently overrode the team after the fact.  As a result, the team stopped trying, knowing it was pointless to make a decision that wouldn’t stick.  Her problem wasn’t going away until she used her whole voice differently – communicating with her actions what she was saying with her words – that ownership of the problems sat with her team, not her.

Problem #2: Wrong Level

Leaders can undermine how they are viewed by others when the use their Leadership Voice indiscriminately for things that don’t require their level of authority or influence.  Early in my career, the president of the organization I consulted with - a sizable division of a Fortune 100 company - was frustrated by cost overruns one particular quarter.  To show everyone he “really means business” on the topic, he sent an email to all employees saying he personally would be approving all expense reports going forward.  That’s all expense reports for the entire division. The mail contained very detailed instructions about how he wanted expense reports filled out and his process for judging the merit of each expense.  That one email shattered his image with the entire organization.  The president’s voice went from that of a leader and strategic thinker to that of a reactive, frustrated administrator in just one email.

Problem #3: Schizophrenia

Any savvy investor will tell you that the kiss of death on Wall Street, equal to poor financial performance, is unpredictability.  Why? Because future performance can only be based on the track record of the past.  A company that gives its investors whiplash every quarter – positive or negative – will see their share price erode over time. 

The same is true for leaders – no matter how likeable a leader may be, people won’t rally behind someone who is too unpredictable, because it undermines their sense of trust and stability. If your priorities shift day-to-day, or you find yourself playing whack-a-mole too often, or if you even tend to describe the same problem too many different ways to your team so they “really get it,” odds are your team doesn’t know how to follow you. 

Getting a handle on your leadership voice

So, how do you get the most out of your leadership voice?  Four steps:

  1. Get grounded in your priorities. Not everything is important – really.  So get clear about your core values, your vision and your strategic imperatives. Then review them daily.  It doesn’t take very long to do, and it keeps you grounded as a leader.  Your people can’t be focused unless you focus yourself first.
  2. Find your level. Look at the decisions you make and the things you communicate about.  Are they appropriate for your level of authority or influence?  Could someone else deal with the more tactical stuff, allowing you to save your voice for the more important and strategic messages and decisions?
  3. Identify the state of your “brand.” Get feedback from peers, direct reports and others who know you well on how you are viewed today as a leader – what your “voice” actually means to them.  This can be a formal 360-degree personal brand assessment process, or less formal info gathering.  Either way, get a baseline on the current health of your brand today so you can see where you need to tune up your voice.
  4. Get on message. Taking the above info, define how you will focus yourself – communications, decisions and actions – on those things that are most critical to you.  Simplify, simplify, simplify.  Then stay on message and at the right level, using every situation and opportunity to reinforce what you want others to be thinking, feeling and doing.

And lastly, don’t try to copy someone else’s approach – don’t ape another leader you respect by mimicking their presentation style, catch-phrases or idiosyncratic behaviors.  It’s not just ok to be yourself, it’s a requirement. Like Nipper, people will want to know and follow your authentic Leadership Voice.

2 comments:

  1. Larry, you have offered a clear and concise approach that could be dismissed as obvious by inexperienced leaders. I have found that a lack of awareness of oneself is usually the biggest culprit in hiding what appear as deceptively simple concepts. It is only the leaders actions (what she/he says, writes, communicates and does) that can impact others. Are my actions consistent with what I want others to do?

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  2. Thanks Michael - yes, this one's all about awareness. Once managers can see themselves through the eyes of others, fixing the problems are not all that tough. They just have to get and keep their perspective on how they are coming across to others.

    Thanks for your comments!

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