A leading regional telecommunications infrastructure group called us ahead of their quarterly offsite. The CEO had carved out one free hour in an otherwise tightly packed agenda and gave a very specific instruction to his L&D team: find someone to run a voice training session for his top team.
This is a CEO with presence you feel before he speaks. Big, grounded, physically commanding. A deep, resonant voice that carries effortlessly across the room. When he speaks, people listen. But that was precisely the problem. According to him, his direct reports “don’t hold the room.” They are competent, smart and seasoned. Yet when they present, their voices do not carry authority. Their presence didn’t match their roles.
So during that one hour in a hotel meeting room, we worked on various aspects of their voices. Exercises that felt uncomfortable at first. They practised. They adjusted. They listened to one another. The next day, we received a call. They wanted more.
Not another one-off session, but a structured rollout. Two-hour High Performance Presentations Coaching throughout the year. First for the senior leadership team. Then cascading to Heads of Department. Then to middle managers. The most powerful person in the room had done something subtle but significant. He made space.
He acknowledged that leadership is not just about having a strong voice. That it’s also about developing the voices of others. And by publicly investing in their growth, he sent a message: authority is not inherited by title. It is cultivated through deliberate practice. One hour was all it took to reveal a leadership gap.
And a commitment to close it.
JM Ibrahim
Director, Presentations Delivery