FINDING YOUR VOICE
One of the most powerful tools anyone can possess in the corporate world is a confident voice.
Rebecca Shambaugh, President and Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning, explains an Executive Voice comes from knowing what you say, how you say it, when to say it and to whom you say it. The context in which things are said is a critical component to leadership development. Shambaugh provides the following suggestions for finding your Executive Voice:
Stay calm
Understand the context of a meeting, and your expected role
Be a visionary, take the viewpoint of the business overall, rather than just your role
Cultivate strategic relationships, in order to expand your strategic perspective of the organization’s goals
Bring solutions, not just problems
Do your homework, and go beyond the obvious answer
An Executive Voice can instill a confidence in other employees that the speaker is educated and informed on the subject and will encourage others, instead of allowing them opportunity to push back or question. An Executive Voice can lead the pack where it needs to go, not follow behind.