“You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.”
Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC
Model for Getting Your Leadership Voice Heard
While trumpet was never one of my instruments, I was a “band kid” long enough to know that if you try blow into the mouthpiece of a trumpet without full confidence, the sound you’ll produce is yourself gasping for breath.
You need to prepare for it. Drop your breath. Fill up your lungs fully. Get your embouchure set (the way you apply your mouth to the mouthpiece) and GO FOR IT! With a second or two of intentional preparation and commitment, your airstream will make way to a powerful blast that’s sure to draw the attention and focus of those around you.
A number of years ago, a dear mentor of mine, Mette Norgaard, picked up on the fact that I was a musician and started encouraging me to lean into the years of embodied practice I’d cultivated over years of training. Yes, she did jump start my getting back to singing publicly again, which brings me abundant joy, but she was more interested in translating the foundation of that embodiment into how I showed up as a leader. It was her challenge to dig deeper and explore this space that produced this second leadership model.
As an alum of Notre Dame and huge fan of the late Father Hesburgh, I also honor him and the foundation of leadership he embedded into the curriculum and culture of the community at ND.
Head Lifted
Lead with competence and clarity; project humble confidence
There are two parts to this first component. First and foremost, you need to know your stuff. If you don’t have command of the material/situation, aren’t competent, or lack clarity, you are going to have a hard time convincing anyone to follow you.
That being said, in my work developing high potential, high performers I’ve found that most have this piece down. They are smart enough and competent enough to lead, but need help showing up with confidence.
Perhaps it’s the analytical nature of the work that we do, but the vast majority of the leaders I’ve developed over the years have been introverts. I too identify as an introvert, which people sometimes question, given I can be quite outgoing. I like to describe myself as “an introvert with a performance degree.”
For me, putting that modifier of “humble” on the word “confidence” is helpful. The confidence you are going for is not, “Look at me, I’m better than you.” Rather, it’s peace in being comfortable in your own skin that allows you to show up in an authentic way for the good of the work, your role, your team, and the institution. Having this purpose behind why you are speaking up is helpful to take the risk and put your voice out there and be heard.
Train Your Inner Voice
Silence the judgment; transform nervous energy into explosive excitement
This is a tough one for me. Even as I was working on this post, my husband leaned over my shoulder and said, “You need to take this advice!” He’s right–I do. I think what’s so tricky about this one is that it’s a constant choice. I have a very harsh and pesky inner voice. My expectations for myself are way higher than I’d place on anyone else, and if I’m not careful, they can cross the line from being helpful in motivating me to be my best to causing me to feel like a failure if I don’t obtain “perfection,” whatever that is.
One of my favorite books in music school was A Soprano on Her Head by Eloise Ristad. In addition to the clever title, I appreciated how the author explored the mental game of music performance and how self-judgment can cripple one’s ability to perform at her best.
One of my favorite singer hacks that I’ve shared countless times in the workplace is that I was coached to replace “I’m feeling nervous” with “I’m feeling excited” before a performance. My vocal coach would have me tell myself and tell others this when they asked me if I was nervous. Neuro-cognitively, the areas of the brain that process these two emotions are quite close to one another, and you can trick your brain into the much more positive expression of excitement.
Another singer mental image around “explosive” energy is to think about taking a can of soda and shaking it up. As you take a deep breath to prepare to sing, you release that soda tab and translate that explosive energy into your voice. Not a bad mental image before a presentation at a large conference or in front of your executive team either! (Leave the soda behind though. Wink.)
Resonance and Placement
Connect with your audience; find the common ground
In classical voice, you are trained to use the natural amplifiers inherent in placing your voice in your “mask” to find maximum resonance and in connection with your breath – power. As such, a trained opera singer without a microphone can fill a concert hall. Yes, the acoustics of the built space help as well.
I remember in music school, one professor in particular would sit in the last row of the concert hall. As we each walked onto the stage and announced the piece we would be performing, she’d bark out, “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!” As so, we’d try again, sometimes three or four times, until we got it right.
While I think it’s a bit easier to find when singing (because of the training), locating this same placement for resonance and projection in your speaking voice can be incredibly helpful, particularly for women.
I intentionally chose the word “resonance” for this component for its dual-meaning. As described above, there is something to the physical generation of “finding your voice.” But what’s equally important to develop is your sensitivity to whether or not the messages and content you’re sharing will resonate and ultimately have influence.
In real estate, we’ve all heard “location, location, location.” With leadership, I’d substitute “audience, audience, audience.” Considering your audience and then appropriately framing the material and gauging what level of detail they’ll want to hear is guidance I find myself giving to my team on nearly a daily basis.
It’s so important and not that intuitive at first, particularly if you haven’t yet been exposed to the executive team level much in your career. You need to know the details inside and out to field any follow-up questions that come your way and to instill confidence in your credibility. Being able to glean the “so what’s” and summarize the pearls of wisdom to that audience is the key to delivering a message that will be heard.
Lead from the Heart
Recapitulate the “why”; hold your focus
Too often leaders get it wrong in assuming that their workforce is motivated by only extrinsic motivators of title, salary, and bonus–essentially prestige. While the drive to achieve can be powerful, these all cost money. Furthermore, I’ve found that such rewards can inadvertently demotivate other employees, are relatively spaced-out occurrences, are quickly forgotten, and do not translate into retention.
I’m the first to advocate for my people’s advancement when it’s merited. But I’ve also learned that there are other powerful drives that can motivate performance. People want to make a contribution. They want to do good and be good. They are motivated to learn, to be part of something bigger than themselves (to bond), and to defend.
With the latter three, leading from the heart and recapitulating the “why” become incredibly important. As your direct reports understand why something matters, they will bring their creativity, resourcefulness, and energy to come up with solutions, often more innovative than you might have thought of yourself.
If you can hold the focus on what matters, I almost guarantee you that your team will surprise you in figuring out the best way to achieve it.
Anchor in Your Breath
Be calm, powerful, and expansive; fill the space
Before yoga became a thing, my high-school voice teacher and forever mentor, Maria Williams, had me doing yoga. Maria had recently moved from New York City, and for a teenager from Grafton, North Dakota in the late ’90s, she was pretty exotic.
I remember lying down on the floor of the ballet studio above Bel Canto Studios doing breathing exercises. What Maria understood was that learning to control your breath was a game-changer and any means of figuring this out and enhancing your practice was a worthy investment.
What many don’t fully appreciate is that your voice is a wind instrument. Like a flute, clarinet, or saxophone, your voice is powered by the vibrations of air over your vocal cords, which produce sound. The embarrassing and infamous “cracking” of one’s voice is the result of too little air passing through the vocal cords to produce the vibration necessary to sustain the pitch.
Early on in learning to sing, I would get nervous and breathe too shallowly. My face would get flushed, my hands would shake, and my voice would quiver. Despite wanting to come across as powerful and confident, my anatomy was working against me, making me sound meek, scared, and powerless.
My voice teacher turned the tables on my insecurities and reminded me that no one in the audience wanted to punish a performer who was uncomfortable. “You poor girl. It’s okay. You don’t have to sing!” Putting myself in the audience’s shoes with the objective of keeping them at ease, allowed me to anchor more deeply in my breath–to be calm, powerful, & expansive as I filled the space.
Recognize Others
Graciously acknowledge those who help make it happen
None of us accomplishes much alone. It is an insecure leader who needs to take all the recognition for herself. A secure and mature leader knows that when her people and her team look good, she looks good. There are few motivators more powerful than recognition, yet leaders often under-utilize this free and highly effective dynamic.
Like a soprano singing a cappella has limitations on what she might produce solo, so a leader is limited in what she might accomplish without the support of other leaders and teammates around her.
Leaders who excel in doing recognition well are few and far between. I’d argue that even when you think you are “doing enough,” you could do better.
Heels to the Ground
Hold onto integrity; be gritty and resilient
The concept of “Heels to the Ground” is an unexpected constant when I think back on form of several crafts I’ve sought to hone. In voice, you balance buoyantly on the balls of your feet, but drive your heels to the ground to anchor into your breath. In horsemanship, a parallel construct exists as you use the balls of your feet for control, driving your heels to the ground for balance. In yoga, in downward dog, you drive your heels back while utilizing your forefeet to pump for greater flexibility.
It’s not uncommon for women to inadvertently give away their power through leaning forward or deferring to another more anchored force. As I’ve learned to lean into my own leadership voice, I’ve found that anchoring in my breath in combination with driving my heels to the ground is a powerful stance from which I can command the stage and convey my message.
Is there a physicality to how you think about your leadership voice? What crafts have informed how you envision your power?
Enquist Family Photo Credits: Blue Rose Photography
