I was approached by a younger leader right after he had been assigned an upper management position in his organization. He asked, “What advice do you have for me?”
After a bit of thought I shared with him, “Two things: First, find your voice; second, find your audience.”
Find your voice: He was following someone who had, for six years, held the position he was moving into. His processor had a voice. She had her means of communicating. She had her bent. But he needed to develop his own voice. He needed to determine his mode of communication. What would make what he had to say uniquely his?
As a leader you need your own voice. It can be cobbled together from those you have followed, or other leaders you have been exposed to. However, if you don’t develop your unique voice you will be viewed as one who simply parrots others. Know who you are. Know what you want to rally people to, then do it…your way.
Find your audience: His role is multi-faceted. What he oversees affects many folks. Yet he cannot effectively impact them all. I encouraged him to find his primary audience. It would be those, that he influenced, who would in turn influence many others.
In your leadership you need to resist the attempt to be present for all people. Do not buy into the ‘guilt’ some in your organization may attempt to place on you due to not giving them your full attention. If everyone is your audience, then you have no audience of impact.
I work in a church organization. In my role I oversee 70 churches in three states. Each of these churches have a Lead Pastor. Many have staff pastors. We have over one hundred in our ministry development process. What I know is that all of these people cannot be my audience.
My audience is the Lead Pastors. I invest time in them. I resource them. It is my contention that if they are resourced well they will resource those in their realm of influence. I have received a bit of push back from staff pastors and ministry students, but for the most part it is understood who I focus on.
I encourage you to consider the same two pieces of advice. Find your voice. Find your audience.