The Voicemail

The dreaded voicemail....not the messages that stack up when you are in meetings, but the voicemail greeting.
Little story - maybe it's about leadership, maybe not...but it is certainly a 'Not to Do'.

Trying to resolve an issue with a certain institution, my friend called their contact and got the dreaded voicemail greeting that said "I am away from September 2nd to September 12th.  Do not leave a voicemail for me. But if this is an emergency, leave a voicemail and someone will pick it up while I am away."

Does this make any sense?  Don't leave the voicemail, but go ahead if it is an emergency?  Someone?  Who?  Someone qualified to deal with the issue?  How about providing a name and contact number for that 'someone'?  You would have to be certain that this institution, with its multiple layers of middle management would have a policy that there needs to be a back up in place for all vacationers.

So, yes, this is about leadership.  Think about the way we communicate our vision, discuss our strategies and plan the future with our teams.  Are we vague? Do we provide mixed messages?  Do we have a back up plan when  we need one?  Have we considered how the other end will receive the message?

Next time you go on vacation leave a very clear voicemail (and don't even get me started on out-of-office replies on email that still have vacation dates from 3 years ago!).  Take a few minutes to pay attention to that detail - and apply the same attention to the rest of your messaging.

The Sound of Leadership

Do you have a tone?

Does your leader have a tone?
Is there a voice that your mom or dad used to use that would stop you in your tracks?
That's the one I am talking about.
The voice that is condescending, belittling or simply full of annoyance.

How do you handle the leader with this voice?

Well, people are simply blessed with the voices they have been given. They are influenced by their environment - where they grew up, the language and tone used in their homes, their experiences with others....what works or doesn't. So it is not really the voice, but more of the TONE and inflection.

Approaching the person with the 'voice' is not as easy as it seems. Although, the approach is a simple one - 'hey, this is how you said what you said', or 'you said this, this is how I heard it, is that really what you meant?' Let them know ...it's not easy from either end of the conversation but it will set ground rules for how you like to get your communication and you may be pointing out something that needs to be worked on by that individual...and they never knew it because of the fear they have mongered due to their tone.

Here is an exercise....listen to your tone. I have had mine pointed out to me before and while it is not fun, it is a new awareness that I now have that makes how I communicate different now than in the past.

Once you pay attention to your tone, you will automatically change the tone of the other person.