I Have a Voice
Do you have a voice?
If you saw The King’s Speech or even the trailer for the movie, you’ll remember the passionate delivery of the line “I have a voice”. In the role of king, George VI knew that his ability to deliver a speech to his country was something he needed to do, but a severe stutter made this a daunting task. With much coaching, practice and persistence he was able to deliver a meaningful and inspiring message to his fellow countrymen. Indeed, King George VI found that he did have a voice.
For me, that sentence brought about some synchronicity in the past week. It all started when I had the idea that this would be a great title for a blog so I opened up my blog software and wrote the title. Then when I tried to write the story, I came up with “writer’s block”. I had lots of ideas floating in my head but I couldn’t get them to flow into a story. The thought has been top of mind ever since but I still couldn’t put the ideas into a story.
Yesterday I was having coffee with a colleague. We were sharing stories about lessons we had learned over the years and she was describing how she was putting her lessons to use in an entrepreneurial manner to create a coaching business, offering retreats, etc. At one point after I had shared a few stories with her, seemingly right out of left field she looked me in the eye and told me that “I have a voice”, an ability to share insightful stories with people in a meaningful way. I smiled at the synchronicity in the choice of her words. Then when I got home I read another person’s blog that related a story using The King’s Speech as background to tell their story.
Synchronicity. Ok, I get it. So I decided to attempt writing the blog again and here it is.
Do you have a voice? Do you let it be known that you have one?
I think of many instances where the opportunity to “have a voice” presents itself and we have the choice of whether to respond to the opportunity or not.
Have you ever been in a situation at work where you just know there’s a better way to do something? Maybe it’s a great marketing idea that you have, or a process improvement idea that you think could make a big difference. Some people will not follow up on their idea because they figure that “ah, the marketing group probably already thought of that” or “the boss of production is hard to talk to”. There is always an excuse for some people. But others will simply walk over to the appropriate group and share their idea. When someone chooses to share their ideas, to use their voice if you will, the outcome is virtually always positive. Oftentimes the idea gets implemented, sometimes the sharing of the idea generates other ideas. If you have a great idea at work, do you use your voice to share it?
Another colleague sent me a message yesterday after reading one of my blogs. She has always wanted to speak at a conference, but the task seemed daunting. Each year, the organizers receive applications from 800-1000 people and only a small percentage (130 spots) are selected as presenters. She submitted a solid abstract and was selected as one of the presenters. By taking action to pursue something she has always wanted to do, she now has the opportunity to have her voice be heard. Bravo!
Think about your existing relationships, friends, family members, significant others. Does it feel like someone is constantly on you about something? It bothers you but you don’t want to make waves so you suppress the emotion. But it continues, and you’ve reached your boiling point. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why don’t we use our voice before we get to this point? If you use your voice and explain to the person why it’s bothering you, won’t you feel better that you’ve expressed your opinion and not suppressed the emotion or added any undue stress to yourself? And you’ll almost surely see a change in the other person’s behaviour as a result.
I believe that each of us is at times a teacher and at times a student. We have a voice and we have a set of ears. When we share our stories and beliefs in an authentic fashion, we often don’t realize the impact that it might have on someone. Our story might be the moment of synchronicity for someone – they’ve now heard the same theme several times and this is the moment they decide to take action. Or maybe you share a story or thought and someone responds with a reinforcing point or even a counter-point. In either case, you learn something and grow.
As I suggested in another blog, wouldn’t it be a shame if your great ideas were left unspoken? Wouldn’t it be a shame if an opportunity to help someone was passed by because you figure they’ve already heard it before?
Do you have a voice? Do you use it?
I know that I have a voice and I’m going to use mine.
If you’d like to share an interesting “I have a voice” story, send it along to [email protected].
Written by Ken
Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.
Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.
“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X
Love your post Ken! Thank you for inspiring me to use my voice. It’s a gift we all share. Cheers, Erika