HUMAN BEINGS OR HUMAN DOINGS?

Transforming Team Communications

designed to transform how we communicate as a team through building self-awareness, as well as an awareness of those on our teams. This training wasn’t about my job and how I need to be better at it (as much CPD can feel like), this was about me as a person, helping me to see my strengths and my weaker tendencies. It proved to be a revelation. 5 Voices is based on our differing personalities. We all have a leadership voice (yes, even if we don’t believe it sometimes!) and our voice will shape how other people see, hear and understand us. I also learnt that we have a voice order, so that rather than just being pigeon-holed as one voice, I can speak all 5 voices, although some will feel more natural than others. Each voice is a bit different: some are louder and some are quieter, some voices focus on people first and then the task, others focus on task first then people. Some voices believe they are always right, whereas others assume that they could well be wrong. All the voices have unique gifts, as well as having some weaker tendencies.

So – what does this all mean? Allow me if you don’t mind to use a football analogy: Let’s all agree for arguments’ sake that Lionel Messi is the best football player in the world...but would you put him in goal? No. The best teams are made up of a combination of qualities, skills, characters and perspectives and the same is true in leadership.

How often do we meet new people and, as part of our first enthusiastic exchange ask them, what do they do? It is a key fixture on the age-old list of questions we ask when we meet someone for the first time: Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?

Once we feel like we have some decent answers from these questions, we look for some common ground to build on – “You’re from London? My granny lives there – maybe you’ve met?”, or “You work in the Lakes? Do you know Dave…?”. If we’re meeting in an outdoor context, conversation may quickly turn to activities and there may be some comparing of notes about where you’ve climbed for example, routes that you’ve done. For some people, there may then follow an internal dialogue suggesting that the other person is better, more experienced and has climbed at far cooler places than you (or vice versa!).

All these conversations, however, are about what we do, and often we feel defined by our tasks, our roles, our CV, our achievements – the things we do and the things we have done. Lovely as all these things are, our experiences are only part of what defines us. However, if our initial conversation starters included questions about what kind of person you are, your character, and what values you hold most dear, well…that might just feel a little awkward. In the workplace, wherever and whatever that may be, generally we have to lead or work with others - we simply have to get on with people. But how do we do this? Is it just something that comes naturally to all of us, or could we use a little help navigating through our team dynamics to help everybody bring their best? I have been a teacher working in the outdoors for many years and involved in various leadership positions for most of that time. However, I always had a suspicion that maybe I wasn’t a very good leader. Why? Well, because I was fairly quiet, didn’t like conflict or argument, and would often not speak up in meetings. I also generally looked at other colleagues in similar positions and felt that they were just better than me. On being appointed to a senior leadership position a number of years ago I was hugely excited, but also wracked with self-doubt – was I really the best person for this job? Was I good enough? Will people respect me? And on it went…

Then in my first week, everything changed. As a senior team, 8 or 9 of us took part in some training in a system called the 5 Voices, created by Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek from a company called GiANT. 5 Voices is

It is important because everyone deserves to be heard, all opinions should be valued and respected; louder voices tend to dominate and assume that everybody agrees, while the quieter voices are quietly disagreeing, but trying to avoid conflict at all costs. A ‘traditional’ view of what a leader is might include them being driven, direct, loud, determined, uncompromising, doesn’t suffer fools gladly, decisive, win at all costs, courageous, leading from the front, strategic etc. All of these are great qualities, but we don’t necessarily need to be great at them all to be great in leadership.

How does this make a difference? Back in my new leadership position I had huge imposter syndrome, feeling I was well short on the list above. This was the beginning of my self-awareness journey, where the 5 Voices system shone a light on the fact that I had the potential to be a great leader because I care deeply about people and harmony in relationships is really important to me. I’m also very values-driven and integrity is central to who I am and how I work. People always come before systems. Also – and this bit is crucial – I learned the voices of the other people on my teams. As a result, I was able to create a team culture where everybody felt heard, valued and understood.

In teams with this type of culture, views of team members are actively sought and acted upon, with leaders having the humility to accept that they don’t have all the best ideas. Nor are they the best at everything. I currently lead someone called Jenny, who is perhaps the most enthusiastic person I have ever met! She is also brilliantly organised, with a keen eye for detail. When she offers to help with planning, it would be very easy for me to pretend that I have everything sorted and don’t need her help. However, by accepting her offer I am allowing her to bring her organisational superpowers to the team, allowing me to focus elsewhereso we both benefit.

So, who we are and the person we want to be is important, not just what our role is. People and teams that develop an awareness of this will be more successful, happier, more fulfilled and with a clearer sense of vision and purpose. We have much greater clarity in leadership, teamwork and communication if we grow in self-awareness and awareness of our teams, rather than simply focusing on what we ‘do’ p