The Voice

Your tone, your rhythm, your go-to phrases. Consistency here builds trust. Inconsistency? That builds confusion.

Close your eyes and think of someone you admire. A leader you respect. A mentor who shaped you.

Now think about how they speak. Not what they say, but how they say it. The cadence. The pauses. The words they reach for when things get complicated. You can probably hear their voice right now, can't you?

That's because voice is identity. And yours is no different.

The Myth of "Being Professional"

Somewhere along the way, we got the idea that professionalism means stripping away personality. That sounding like everyone else is the goal. That the right voice is a voice with no distinguishing features.

This is terrible advice disguised as safety.

When everyone sounds the same, nobody stands out. When you flatten your natural voice into corporate smoothness, you become forgettable. And forgettable is a much bigger risk than "too casual" or "too direct."

Finding Your Frequency

Your voice isn't something you invent; it's something you uncover. It's already there, underneath the layers of "should" you've absorbed over the years.

Start by paying attention. How do you sound when you're explaining something you care deeply about? How do you write when nobody's going to read it? What words do you reach for instinctively, before self-editing kicks in?

That's your voice. The trick isn't to create it. It's to stop hiding it.

Consistency Is Your Signature

The most trusted voices are consistent voices. Not boring - consistent. There's a huge difference.

Think about it: when someone's tone shifts dramatically between contexts, it creates unease. Are they being real in meetings or in emails? Which version is the authentic one? Inconsistency doesn't signal adaptability; it signals that something's off.

Your voice should be recognizable. If someone read an email you wrote with your name removed, would they know it was you? That's the goal.

The Words You Own

Great leaders often have phrases they're known for. Not because they planned it, but mostly because they said the same things, the same way, so often that those phrases became inseparable from their identity.

What are yours? What do you say when you're rallying a team? Giving feedback? Celebrating a win? These verbal patterns are part of your brand, whether you acknowledge them or not.

Choose them on purpose. Own them completely. Let them become your signature.