Finding Your Leadership Voice

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” ~Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker

To say the new job was challenging would be understating the situation. It was rough, but that is why they hired me and probably why they hired you as well. If they could have done it themselves, they would have never hired me and brought me 900 miles to help correct the enormous deficiency in product and personnel.

Leaders are hired to get results and bosses everywhere are asking if we can deliver the results they expect. Getting results is in large part left up to each individual leader to figure out. Going into an environment where there is an expectation for instant results is normal today. I needed some time to work through the human and cultural challenges of my newly formed department. But time was in short supply and those that had moved me there wanted results sooner rather than later. I felt the pressure, just like you feel it.

I did not want to fail. You don’t either. Leadership effectiveness starts with the leader. I needed to express my vision of what we could be with clarity. I needed to find my leadership voice and then go about living my life not just in words, but in deeds that reflected my conviction. My leadership voice had to be authentic when talking to my team about the new direction we were going in. We call this leading by example.

In times such as these, a leader must clarify their values. First, to yourself and then to your team. It is in times like these you must use your voice to clarify the direction. It is what brings calm to the chaos. Gives good employees hope and sets the vision for the direction of your unit. You probably do this when you interact with your team each day.

The first time I engaged with my new team I found some employees to be unfriendly and confrontational. Others were super friendly and helpful. But the worst were those that were friendly to my face and worked aggressively behind my back to undermine my authority. I bet you have had something similar happen to you.

To begin with, I wanted to get my employees to buy into the new standards I was expecting from them. I needed them to overhaul the areas and take pride in their work. I needed the team to be problem solvers, not problem makers. My voice needed to be firm, but friendly, fair as well as factual.

I had to talk and act like a leader. Not standing on top of table shouting down, but meeting them every day in the field, training, developing, mentoring to inspire the high standards expected when competing for a national title. It helped that I had competed and won a national title at other properties. I knew what it took because I learned from some of the best. The voice of a leader knows the way and shows the way.

A leader’s voice gets clearer when they can see the needs and can define the direction they will take to solve them. I was able to see what was wrong and take a path that got us where we wanted to be, because I asked for help. First from mentors and my boss, then as my team got on board, I asked them.

“It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s okay to ask for help. And it’s more than okay to listen to the people you lead–in fact, it’s essential.” ~Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors

My leadership voice got stronger in time, so will yours.

Keep growing your leadership voice.

Jeff