Echo of the leader’s voice

There is a difference between speaking and voice. Most leaders speak a lot, in fact in many cases, too much. Yet their voice is not heard. In my coaching sessions with leaders, the number one complaint leaders make is that “the employees do not listen”.

Most of them feel exhausted by the sheer burden of having to talk to the team on the same issues again and again. Many feel exasperated by the dumbness of the employees.

They would say, “It seems I am talking to a wall, they keep nodding but I know they have not registered”. Another leader frustrated would say, “They all agree to do it but it is I who have to remind them to follow-up”. These feelings create a negative bias in the leader’s mind, forcing him to repeat himself more, push more, and talk more. A vicious cycle is created of communication that is counter-productive, provocative and ineffective.

Leadership discourse is the catalyst that impacts everything in the organization. The voice of the leader has the power and resonance to echo and boomerang in every nook and corner.

Organisations talk about the strategic narrative of the company. That narrative has to be crafted astutely and delivered judiciously to create the right impact.

The leadership voice is the sound that people hear and follow. If it is random, it may or may not work. It needs to resonate with its target audience to really create that inspiration that moves people and companies.

The voice of a leader is expressed through stories, conversations, choice of words, actions and behaviour. Many leaders are very articulate and do create attention and interest. To convert interest into inspiration is dependent on how the voice is not just a sound but an accountable action too. That is what creates trust. That is what creates a following. That is what creates role modelling.

The leader must reflect and seek help on the type of talk he wants people to register, recall and re-talk. The stories he wants people to retell. The conversations he wants people to re-hold. People are made of four elements-the heart, the mind, the body, the soul.

The voice that appeals to all four is the voice that stays. That is the voice that resonates. That is the voice that inspires. Let us look at the four voices that Leaders need to cultivate:

EchoVoice#1-Heart-to-heart- This is the leadership voice of care. What we talk creates emotions and feelings. These emotions create responses. Leaders need to create those conversations and actions that make people feel they matter. That means the leader has to ensure that people are addressed both at professional and personal levels. In a recent meeting in a company where we were trying to take feedback on how leaders were perceived, the employees said, “We have a lot of conversations, but they are mostly on just work”. That is why it is important to lead by asking employees of their personal life developments too. In one of the companies, the leader would arrive in the morning, just greet everybody on the way and enquire about their children and family. That echo remained. That story was retold by employees many times.

The leader should set examples of heart-to-heart talks with his direct reportees. These include questions of their family, their passions, their interests and areas where the leader can help them.

The echoes I hear about leaders with heart are of people touched by small things. One employee told me that the manager remembers our birthdays and gets a cake made of the passion we have. He said he was surprised when the cake had a picture of his favourite car. Another told me how he was moved to tears when his boss came to condole on his grandmother’s death as he knew she had brought him up.

The words may be few, the actions may be small but the impact on the heart is big.

EchoVoice#2-Align to purpose- The leader’s voice has to stimulate the mind by making people see what they cannot see. Human mind is made to work, analyse, stretch and get stimulated. The biggest problem most people are facing is job apathy. They get into the 9 to 5 routine and feel mechanical and mentally distant. The routine feels like a drill that is very dumbing. They go, work, feel detached and come back exhausted and disinterested. The leader’s voice needs to stir the mind. The most under-used voice is purpose clarity conversations. In meetings, the voice of purpose is very important. In events the link of daily routines to purpose is essential. When the leader says that each action that you are taking is not just a task but a contribution to saving people’s lives or enabling people to learn and develop, you align people to a higher purpose. You create a link in the mind to a meaning that makes them feel elevated. The weekly meetings are very important. A leader should always voice the vision and purpose of the company in these meetings. To cascade this purpose all the way down it is important to make a standard SOP for managers to talk about their purpose in every meeting and in one-to-one sessions with team members.

EchoVoice#3-Spur up energy- The body needs to move and buzz. Energy is a productivity amplifier. The leader needs to mirror the energy he wants in his team. Energy is echoed in vibe and voice of the leader; his discipline to maintain his fitness. His ability to focus with sustained buzz in long meetings. His talk about how he is concerned about the health and fitness of his people. Facilitating walks, yoga, gym stints for people. Creating health awareness campaigns. Enabling health checks 6 monthly. These are all echoes that will send the message that people are important and not just cash registers.

EchoVoice#4-Stir the soul- This voice is the most important to create an affiliation beyond the job. The leader has to make sure that involvement in societal activities is part of the company voice. Acts of charity, projects of volunteering and mentoring the underprivileged should be opportunities for people to fulfill their need for contribution.

Leaders are the messengers of the core of what the company stands for. What they say reverberates all around. As their words, conversations, phrases, actions become impactful and inspiring, the body, mind, heart and soul engagement will increase. As they say, “Leadership is not about the position you hold, but the conversations you create and the impact you leave”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026