[Samantha Benson]

Simon strongly leans towards diagnose, articulate, advocate – potentially overusing all three and tipping over into overanalysing (whether under pressure or not) being verbose and preaching. His challenge voice is also on the high end. Overall his profile suggests that he either overuses or underuses most voices – nothing sits in the medium range, other than direct, but only when under pressure.
Considering Simon’s roles, I was surprised that his potential absences include expertise and standards, and I wonder if this is due to feeling under confident as a result of his difficult relationship with Victor.
Simon overanalyses, and is likely to put his point across in a verbose and preachy way, without evaluating the pros and cons
There’s a big change in Simon’s use of inquire when under pressure – it moves from high to very low, perhaps suggesting that when under pressure he turns inwards and is less able to seek contributions from others, or be open minded.
Victor has a very high tendency to challenge, to the extent that it potentially comes across as attacking, and he also overuses direct voice, which leans towards dictating. Under pressure his evaluate voice tips over to criticise.
Potential Strengths
If Simon and Victor can develop awareness of each other’s strengths and triggers, there is potential for them to complement each other and work well together.
For Victor, being direct and prepared to tackle things head on can be a strength if he can dial things down.

Hypotheses
Overuse of their preferred voices may suggest that they are both frequently under pressure. Simon may find Victor intimidating.
Both have a tendency to overuse challenge with it tipping into attack, meaning that they may feel attacked by each other, and interactions may make other team members feel uncomfortable
Go north – make sure they are not just using exploratory voices as a prelude to another voice – Challenging for Simon and Advocating for Victor
Overuse of assertive voices
Possibly set in their ways. Not great at listening to others – main aim is to get their points across

Lines of Enquiry
What do they see as each other’s strengths?
When do they communicate best? Examples of it working well
What are their triggers?
How do they think their working relationship impacts others in the team?
How do their interactions with each other compare to interactions with other people in the team?
What do they need from each other to help them work better together
Development recommendations
Exploring specific ways of strengthening the voices that they underuse and de-emphasising those that they overuse.
Go north – make sure they are not just using exploratory voices as a prelude to another voice – Challenging for Simon and Advocating for Victor. For Simon, exploring how this can help him engage Victor’s attention
If they are open to it, sharing their VoicePrint profile with each other, and possibly a paired coaching session

[Samantha Benson]

Inquire: How would you like to use our next hour together?

Probe: Tell me more about your reasons for running the pilot programme

Diagnose: Within the wider leadership support offer, how do you see coaching fitting in? Is it recognition for long service, developmental, a combination of the two, or something else?

Evaluate: On the one hand coaching could be a benefit just for senior leaders, but on the other hand it could be purposeful support for anyone who is recognised as needing it. The risk is that if the offer is too narrow, some emerging leaders will slip through the net.

Articulate: The HR Director wants to press ahead with expanding the coaching offer, but the Finance Director needs to look more closely at the budget for this year.

Advise: I’m wondering if you should hold a meeting with the Women’s Group to hear their views?

Advocate: I believe that coaching should be made available to emerging and middle leaders, not just senior leaders.

Direct: As a coach I have to maintain confidentiality so I can’t answer that specific question.

Challenge: Can we pause for a minute – we need to be careful not to make assumptions about who this is for.

[Samantha Benson]

Yvette’s self-perception profile indicates a low-range score in all 9 voices which I’m curious about and would seem to be unusual. As one of 12 members of SMT, I wonder whether she is a naturally quiet person who holds back and observes, rather than pushing herself forward to be heard. However, it could be that as the HR manager she feels that her role is to stand back and have an overall perception and understanding of how others behave in order to lead and support, rather than placing herself at the centre of conversations. I’m curious as to how long she has been at the organisation, and also about the gender balance. As a high-tech organisation, is she in a minority as a female and does this have a bearing on how confident and comfortable she is to make her voice heard.
Under pressure we see that Yvettes use of several voices increases, but the only one that moves into the medium range is advocate. Others move from very low to low, whilst direct and probe are not used at all under pressure.
The profile suggests that Yvette does speak up slightly more under pressure but remains far from the overused zone in any voice. As Head of HR, I wonder if increased use of advocate under pressure is linked to her advocating for members of staff.
When exploring Yvette’s profile with her, I’d be very curious to understand whether she recognises herself in her profile, and whether she does hold back as much as her self-perception profile suggests. What is her self-talk? What is the culture within her organisation? I’d also want to explore her confidence, and expectations within her role. I wonder whether she felt able to complete the questionnaire honestly. Does she feel that others dominate? What voices would she feel comfortable to dial up?

[Samantha Benson]

What struck me about Becca’s profile is the sense of someone very solution focussed working under pressure. Bearing in mind her role with a humanitarian charity working in disaster zones this is understandable.

The nature of her work means that compliance, standards and clear courses of action are needed at all times, and I imagine that Becca feels a huge sense of responsibility to get it right. However, her controlling voices are so prevalent that even when not under pressure she is overusing them and is likely to be perceived as demanding, dictating and attacking, and perhaps as patronising at times. When under pressure her evaluate voice which is normally quite balanced shoots up to the very high end of criticise. This may suggest that if people are not in agreement, or if she has to assess or deliberate under pressure, she struggles to maintain balance. Interestingly under pressure her advise voice seems to be dialled down and becomes less patronising, which may hint are her feeling less sure of certain things when under pressure. It’s also notable that under pressure Becca advocates more, but her articulate voice is absent. This may suggest that under pressure she struggles to remain neutral and matter-of-fact. Having said that, even when not under pressure articulate is the voice that she uses least.
Becca’s exploring voices are generally underused, although she does inquire more under pressure.

My hypothesis is that people may find Becca challenging to work with and somewhat intimidating, and I wonder if she struggles to bring people on board. Her underuse of exploring voices suggests that she does not seek the views of others, may not be interested in their opinions and that reaching a shared understanding or agreement is not a priority. At the same time, I can imagine that she is highly effective at getting the job done, and is not afraid of making difficult decisions, even if these are not always popular.

In conversation with Becca I’d be curious to explore her working relationships with her colleagues and partner organisations, what she feels is working well and what could be improved. I would want to find out how aware she is of coming across as critical and dictatorial, and what impact this has on her role and working relationships. I’d like explore how aware she is of how she converses when under pressure, and the impact this may have on others. If bringing people on board and strengthening working relationships is a priority, we could look at how developing her exploring voices could help with this. I’d be curious about differences in her internal and external voices and would imagine that a 360 profile could be an important developmental step. I’m aware that I may feel some bias going into this conversation and may make assumptions about Becca which I’d need to be mindful of.

[Samantha Benson]

Q1. – Probably Patronise, with dictate a close second
Q2. – It depends on the person and the context. If I feel patronised, I may react by going on the attack or with some people being patronising back. If I feel that I’m being dictated to, I may shut down or disengage. In both cases, I will not really be listening to what is being said. If I manage to catch myself before reacting, I may do the opposite and make a point of going to inquiry.
Q3. – Reactions are largely instinctive, with perhaps one or two exceptions with a person who is regularly a bit patronising.
Q4. – There is often no constructive outcome, and we will not really be listening to each other

[Samantha Benson]

Marcia’s exploring voices are strong and dominant. This may indicate that she focuses on the needs of others and understanding these in depth, which would align with her previous experience as a nurse and her work in palliative care. Strong exploring voices may suggest compassion and empathy, a strong interest in others and a desire to really understand their needs in order to help, without putting herself front and centre. This would have helped her be effective in her previous roles. In her current role, use of inquire, diagnose and probe can also be helpful in bringing people on board with change. She moves from exploring voices to positioning voices, and the fact that she has a strong understanding of how people think and feel before articulating or advising may also be effective in building trust. Her direct voice very rarely makes an appearance, and overall, her controlling voices are less evident, which is likely to have pros and cons.
On the flip side, under pressure Marcia’s exploring voices veer towards interrogating, intruding and over analysing. It may be that her previous roles make her comfortable to ask certain questions than people may find intrusive, and when she senses resistance she becomes pushy and overbearing. There is sometimes a fine line between advising and patronising, and it appears that under pressure Marcia can come across as patronising. I wonder if this happens when she feels that people don’t fully understand her positive intent, or when she is feeling less confident. In her new role, Marcia may need to dial up her challenge, evaluate and direct voices to bring about change and make decisions, even if these come less naturally to her.
In a conversation with Marcia I would expect her to be self-reflective, although as her tendency is to use exploring voices, she may find it challenging to be more at the receiving end. I’d be curious to explore her insights when looking at her profile. Does she recognise herself? Has anything surprised her? How are her strong voices and her previous experience positively impacting her new role? What may be hindering her? What does it mean in her new role to avoid or underuse Evaluate and Direct? I would also be curious about her own self awareness when it comes to how she uses exploring voices under pressure. I’d expect the conversation to explore her new role in some depth and look at how she is managing the transition. A lack of confidence may be contributing to the way she is using some voices under pressure.
In terms of voices that she needs to develop in her new role, in order to champion a new system and bring about change, she will need to become more comfortable evaluating and directing, and challenging when necessary. We could explore whether there are any situations in or out of work where she uses these voices more, and look at situations and scenarios where she can begin to experiment with these voices.

[Samantha Benson]

Q1. – Very strong use of advocate – suggests that Jack comes in with strong views for or against. He shares his personal views, then considers whether to advise or challenge depending on the response. Stronger in positioning and controlling triangles, and his strong use of an exploring voice is probe, which sits on the socially risky side.

Q2. – I’m immediately aware of bias in the impressions that I form just from the profile. I think Jack may be quite intimidating, not a very good listener, typically ‘American’ and maybe a bit bombastic. I imagine him to be an older person and an expert in his field, who has been brought in for his expertise and is perhaps not very interested in what the less experienced people he’s working with think.

Q3. – One of the most important aspects of the context strikes me as being the cultural one, and the question of how Jack’s approach will be received in South- East Asia. I also wonder if there will be any bias towards him as an American. The fact that he is a consultant, brought it to advise in the short term, is also important to the context, as perhaps a lack of time, and a feeling that his role is to advise and find solutions is impacting his approach. His age and years of experience as a senior executive position him as an expert, this is important context too. And why has he been asked to complete the VoicePrint?

Q4. –What resonates? Any surprises? What is working well? What is challenging? How does he feel he’s being received by the people he’s working with? (Something here about why he’s been asked to complete the profile), Cultural implications? Explore differences between his approach as a consultant and when he was in employed senior roles? Which voices may be useful to develop and which ones to dial down? How can he experiment with this? What would a good outcome for him be? 

[Samantha Benson]

Patronise
I may ‘over challenge’ and go on the attack, but at the same time switch off from listening to what the person is saying
Instinctive reaction
It prevents the interaction from having a positive outcome – chances are that neither of us are really listening to each other