Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence

167 Pages·2013·6.89 MB·English

by  Amy Jen Su

OWN THE ROOM
DISCOVER YOUR SIGNATURE VOICE TO MASTER YOUR
LEADERSHIP PRESENCE
OWN THE ROOM
AMY JEN SU
MURIEL MAIGNAN WILKINS
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PRESS
Boston, Massachusetts
Copyright 2013 Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to
[email protected], or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business
School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.
The web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of
the book’s publication but may be subject to change.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Su, Amy Jen.
Own the room : discover your signature voice to master your leadership
presence / Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins.
pages cm Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4221-8393-9 (alk. paper) 1. Leadership. I. Wilkins, Muriel
Maignan. II. Title.
HD57.7.S82 2013
658.4′092—dc23
2012041298
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American
National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in
Libraries and Archives Z39.48-1992.
To my parents, Neil and Lilly Jen, for their unconditional love and sacrifices,
which have made so much possible in my life. Their imprint has deeply
influenced all in my life, including this book.
—Amy Jen Su To my favorite superheroes—Arden, Noah, and Gabi—for
sharing the power of presence with me through their love, laughter, and loyalty.
—Muriel Maignan Wilkins
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
THE MYTHS OF LEADERSHIP PRESENCE
Chapter One
FINDING YOUR SIGNATURE VOICE
Chapter Two
HOW DO I GET TO SIGNATURE VOICE?
Chapter Three
ASSUMPTIONS
Mental Conditioning
Chapter Four
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
Skill Conditioning
Chapter Five
ENERGY
Physical Conditioning
Chapter Six
WHAT’S NEXT?
Chapter Seven
HELPING OTHERS FIND THEIR SIGNATURE VOICE
CONCLUSION
Appendix: Signature Voice Toolkit
Notes
Index
About the Authors
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are immensely grateful to a number of individuals, without whom this book
would not have come to be. First and foremost, a tremendous thank-you to Amy
Gallo, who elegantly played the role of outside editor, relationship counselor,
facilitator, reality checker, and friend in the most seamless, gracious way
possible. She was indispensable in bringing this book to life. We are fortunate to
have worked with our wonderful Harvard Business Press editor, Jeff Kehoe, who
helped us shape the ideas and vision we had for this book. His invaluable
guidance and continued enthusiasm for the project kept us energized throughout
the writing process. We would be remiss not to mention our literary agent, Giles
Anderson, who reached out to us after reading our Harvard Business Review
blog and provided countless pieces of advice as we navigated the book process.
We have amazing coaching clients. Every day we feel honored to work with
them and humbled by their commitment to being the best leaders they can be.
We are grateful to each of them for sharing their journeys and allowing us into
their worlds. They often say that they learn from us, but they are the true
teachers. We also thank the sponsors of each of our coaching clients, who
provided honest and insightful feedback that helped crystallize the Signature
Voice framework, best practices, and tools.
We are grateful to all of the participants in our Signature Voice training
programs. Over very short periods of time, they open themselves up to our
coaching and feedback and this new way of seeing their leadership presence. We
thank them for the honesty and candor they bring to these programs. The
anecdotes, questions, and thoughts that they’ve shared over the years pushed our
thinking and deepened our understanding of what it means to have leadership
presence.
While we have partnered with many client organizations, there are a few in
particular that we need to acknowledge for believing in us and pioneering the
Signature Voice training and coaching programs in their organizations: Mary
Lyons and the original PRTM team; Katy Strei, Carole Tilmont, and the whole
Med-Immune Leadership Development team; Mary Ellen Joyce and Marina
Augoustidis at Brookings Executive Education; Keisha Berkely at the National
Institutes of Health; the Leadership Development and HR team at Freddie Mac;
and Jane Brock-Wilson and the team at Berkshire Partners. A special thank-you
to our colleagues and friends Kathy Gallo of the Goodstone Group and Laura
Daley, who generously supported us early on to broaden the reach of our
Signature Voice work.
This book would not have been possible without the amazing selfless support
of the rest of the Isis Associates team. All of our Isis colleagues have touched
this project and us in tremendous ways: Pam Krulitz, for her constant
willingness to brainstorm and talk about the Signature Voice model and engage
in mutual learning; Nina Bowman and Erin McCants Parker, for “drinking the
Kool-Aid” and joining the team to support our growth; Amber Romine and
Steve Kullback, who demonstrated commitment to learning the ins and outs of
the Signature Voice model and facilitating the training at numerous client
sessions; Jenny Sheehan, our executive assistant extraordinaire, who always
manages to say the right thing and take the right step to create order out of
chaos; and to Emily Sopha, our operations manager, who has supported Isis and
this book in so many countless ways.
And we thank all of our consulting partners for their tremendous work with all
of our clients.
Amy would like to thank some special people who have given meaning to her
life and this work: First and foremost, I thank my parents, Neil and Lilly Jen, for
their unconditional and selfless support always. Their generosity and kindness
has deeply influenced who I am today. Thank you to my husband, Greg, for
being my best friend and partner in life. His support has been invaluable to
making Isis and this book possible. My son, Jordan, for the inspiration, love, and
joy he brings to my life. He motivates me to bring my personal best each day. I
am deeply grateful for the community of family and friends in my life. A special
callout to my brother Jim and his family, my cousin Emily Lin, and friends
Wanda Lin and Pat Gartman, who have not only kept me true to myself but to
the original vision of Signature Voice. I am humbled by the group of teachers
who have coached me and deeply influenced my approach in this work: Glenn
Hartelius, PhD, of Attention Dynamics ; James Flaherty and Sarita Chawla at
®
New Ventures West; and author and coach Barbara Stanny. Finally, to my dear
friend and business partner, Muriel Maignan Wilkins, who has been one of my
greatest teachers, I am grateful we are walking this journey together. Her
remarkable authenticity, entrepreneurial spirit, and drive have made so much of
this possible for the Isis team and me.
Muriel would like to thank a few people she is particularly indebted to: First
and foremost, I thank God, without whom none of this would have been
possible. A heartfelt thank-you to my parents, Camie and Ferauld Maignan, who
may have questioned whether I was following the right path but always had the
confidence that I’d do the right thing. That confidence brought me a long way.
To my sisters, Marie-Jude, Nancy, and Genevieve, without whom I would never
have learned to have my own voice. Thanks to each of them for being there no
matter what. To my friends Samantha Caruth, Adrienne Lance Lucas, and Kaya
Henderson, for the constant source of encouragement. To my business partner,
colleague, confidante, and most importantly, dear friend, Amy Jen Su—I
couldn’t imagine being on this book journey and professional path with anyone
else. My twin children, Noah and Gabriela, are a constant source of inspiration,
personal growth, and perspective. I learn from them every day. They are my
double blessings, and I thank them for always being who they are, unconditional
in their love, and so present even on the days when I lose my own presence.
Finally, I thank my husband Arden, who has been the biggest believer and
motivator of all since day one. His never-faltering encouragement, compassion,
loyalty, faith, and love make me grateful to God for him every day.
OWN THE ROOM