Part One · Build Trust

Communication: Synchronizing Signals

What you say matters far less than what you do after you say it.

In brief

What a leader says matters far less than what they do after saying it. The chapter examines five channels of leader voice: what you say, repeat, reinforce, tolerate and decide. When the channels conflict, the pattern always wins.

What the chapter covers

The Five Elements of Leader Voice
The Credibility Gap
Management Communication vs. Leadership Communication
Listening as a Strategic Practice
Executive Presence as Consistency
Building Communication as Infrastructure

Your team is watching for the pattern across all five channels. When the channels conflict, the pattern always wins.

The five elements of leader voice

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Questions for your team

What have we called a priority that our decisions and resources do not support?
What do we tolerate that quietly contradicts what we say?
When did someone's input visibly change a decision? When did input simply disappear?
Which message has been said once and needs to be repeated?

Field Guide Tool #4

The Leader Voice Audit

Assesses alignment across all five communication channels over the previous 30 days. Includes the misalignment diagnostic and the loop closure review.

Best used when the leader suspects a gap between what they say and what the organization hears.

Go deeper

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute