The 5 Voices: How to Communicate Effectively with Everyone You Lead

by Jeremie Kubicek, Steve Cockram

Discover your leadership voice and unlock your potential to influence others 5 Voices is the code for unlocking your capacity to have honest conversations and build deeper, more authentic relationships with your teams, your families and your friends. In order to lead others effectively, we need a true understanding of ourselves, our natural tendencies and patterns of behavior. In learning what your leadership voice sounds like to others, you will discover what it feels like to be on the other side of your personality, as well as how to hear and value others' voices, namely the Pioneer, the Connector, the Creative, the Guardian, and the Nurturer. Once you understand your own leadership voice, you'll discover how best to communicate with each of the other voices, which will transform your communication at every level of relationship, both personal and professional. In mastering the 5 Voices of leadership, you will increase your emotional intelligence, allowing you to gain a competitive advantage as a leader. You will also be equipped with a simple, easy to remember vocabulary that, when shared, has a track record for decreasing the drama, misunderstanding and miscommunication in all spheres of influence.

Are you focused on relationships, values, and people? Or are you oriented more toward tradition, money, and resources? Do you know how others hear your voice? Do you appreciate the contributions of others on your team? This book will help you identify your natural leadership style, and give you a framework for leveraging your strengths.

Find your foundational leadership voice Learn to hear and value the voices of others Know yourself before leading others Connect and communicate well with team, family and friends All five leadership voices come with their own particular set of strengths, and all have areas for growth. Understanding both sides of the equation is the key to taking your leadership to the next level and is the secret to increasing your ability to influence your team, family and friends. 5 Voices is a simple key which unlocks complicated relational dynamics and improves the health and alignment of all your relationships.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Communication, Self Help, Personal Development, Relationships

235 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2016

Reviews

[Moh. Nasiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

"5 Voices" is a handbook to help you communicate more effectively in your professional and personal life. To do this, leadership experts Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram argue, you need to get a handle on what type of communicator you are. This book outline five communicative strategies and provide a wealth of tips and tricks that’ll help you get your point across without getting in peoples’ faces.
The book divides humanity into five categories:
(1) Nurturers.
(2) Creatives.
(3) Guardians.
(4) Connectors.
(5) Pioneers.

[JE · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I really appreciated the book "5 Gears" by the same authors. I was however a bit disappointed by this book.

The book divides humanity into five categories:

(1) Nurturers.
(2) Creatives.
(3) Guardians.
(4) Connectors.
(5) Pioneers.

Where the primary personal traits that separate these categories are:

- Present vs future orientation.
- Empathy vs lack of empathy.
- Introverts vs extroverts.

The main ideas of the book are:

- All categories above add their unique value to any team/organisation.
- It is important to bridge the gap between present and future oriented categories.
- It is important to bridge the gap between emphatic and non-emphatic categories.
- It is important to let the introverts speak before the extroverts.

This is done by:

- Identifying and understanding your own primary voice (which you use to understand the world).
- Applying the 5 voices framework on everyone you meet to optimise social interactions.

The thing I did not like about this book was the authors (hidden) worldview that I believe I could read between the lines:

- This book is primarily written for the future oriented categories since...
- The future oriented categories are best suited to lead since...
- The present oriented categories is a brake towards progress since...
- The present oriented categories values people, reason and economy when...
- The future oriented categories values blind speed and progress at any cost.

The book is basically a tool for the future focused categories (pioneers, creatives) to get the present focused categories (nurturers, guardians) in the organisation to take their foot of the break pedal. This will enable the first category to continue running ahead as fast as possible without any thought on the damage and costs they inflict on people and resources while the last category (with higher empathy, responsibility and planning capabilities) cleans up the mess.

I can understand that this message is appealing to the American culture with its focus on individuality and strong heroes. But for people from northern Europe (like me) this book has a quite provoking way of viewing 70% of the world. I strongly believe that people that fit into the nurturer and guardian categories are capable of visioning, inventing and leading as well as if not better than the other very much outdated leadership categories.

Or maybe it is just my inner guardian-nurturer voice that is speaking and/or imagining things. :)

https://www.mindmeister.com/1012383499 <- My mindmap of the book.

[Marty Solomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm quite the sucker for a good book on personality assessment and team interaction, but this is one of my favorites. Many of those other books/assessments will take you on a journey to find out "who you are" and who "your teammates are". They may even talk about what that means and how these different personalities interact with the team, but "5 Voices" did a great job of explaining exactly how a good leader facilitates great teamwork by understanding the different voices.

I found this book to be incredibly helpful as a leader because of its ability to show me how to value the "quieter" voices on my team and how to coax their contributions out of them. It showed how the different voices have certain weapons that can be used for good and bad. When those voices are used from an immature perspective or even well-intentioned but wrong motives, it can short-circuit the communication and collaboration.

One of my favorite ideas from the book is that the world used to value information; it used to be that information was power. But today, the wisdom of knowing how to facilitate collaboration is where the true power of team lies.

[Rachelle Cobb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been such an enlightening personality typology to know.

Book is a bit repetitive but I recommend to teams (geared toward workplaces but could be beneficial to marriages and family dynamics, as well).

[Stephen Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Information Presented in a, “Rah, Rah,” fashion

There are lots of nuggets of truth in this little, easy-to-read book. It would be great if more people utilized the concepts in it. I will recommend it to many of my pastor and non-profit leader friends as a wonderful tool to have in their tool box; and to help them re-envision how they lead meetings and hear people speak. The best prat two hours in many peoples’ weeks are the weekly staff meetings they have to attend. For all the good information in the book, it is presented formulaically with a Tony Robbins kind of inauthenticity adept readers will have to overlook. It is worth wading through the hype to get to the meat, however.

[Zainab Fadhul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was recommended to me by a fellow colleague who thought I needed to read it to prep myself for my new role as president of the student council at my university for this new academic year. I usually am very cautious with leadership development books as they tend to have a repetitive nature of old principles, but I think this particular one was fresh and very authentic. It gives you a different perspective of what you think you already know. I liked how it gently challenges norms throughout. A good read.

[Brandon Sickling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like with any other secular wisdom you have to sift for the truth in this book. It fails to account for sin, sanctification and the fruits of the spirit, but has some good insights to personality differences. As the church we are one body with different strengths and weaknesses.

[Tom Nebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several weeks ago a good friend of mine was in town. He's in charge of leadership development in a very large corporation, and he showed me some of what they do. Lots of quizzes and tests which lead to lots of colorful diagrams and long narratives to tell us about what we just told them. I stared at it all and then said what I was thinking. "This is good, but there's no way this can infect your entire organization. Only a few people will ever understand this, and the half-life will be short. By Monday no one will remember their stuff or anyone else's." I was uncharacteristically critical. After a pause my friend exhaled and said, "You're right."

The arrival of 5 Voices of a Team couldn't come at a better time. Just when we and our organizations are exhausted with too much awesomeness to be recalled or easily understood, along comes a resource that really works. The authors claim that the leadership constructs of GiANT Worldwide are designed so an educated 13-year-old can understand and teach them--and they're right. I'm seeing it happen right under my nose as leaders quickly understand their "voice", and the voices around them. Honestly, the Introduction itself is worth the price of the book, and the scalable content is bordering on priceless. You will not regret diving in. Not only will you start using the language before midnight, but you'll be using its content for the rest of your life.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through a few of the other comments and a lot of people refer to this book as a personality assessment, a condensed Myers-Briggs. It is not!
This book gives teams (work, family, church groups) a common language to discuss their communication-style. It does not tell you who you are but rather your natural propensity when communicating whether that be people-oriented, future-minded, questioning, etc.
I have always struggled on teams and have been hoisted into leadership roles in new organizations where I floundered. This book allowed me to see that my natural communication style of questioning new ideas and needing all the information before moving forward is more suited to a support role in new organizations. It was actually quite liberating to give myself permission to embrace my strengths.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

First communication theories go back to Plato and idealisation of verbal sparring while enhancing what each of the parties have said. However, that's not always the case...
Jeremie and Steve break down our ways of communicating to others into 5 categories: Guardian (a conservative protecting the current order and identifying unnecessary change), Nurturer (emphasises on the harmony of the group and believe people are more important than profits), Creative (imaginative daydreamer constantly thinking of the next big idea), Connector (one bringing people together and maintaining existing bonds), Pioneer (fanatic of goal achievement and making tough calls). Getting in the way of anyone falling in the last category is likely to get you flattened as if you were hit by a train. I've tested these categories through personal experience. The man I loved dearly would be defined as connector and pioneer, and he's prioritised that over relationship, while my nurturing side could not understand that. No surprise we couldn't 'work' together.
Similarly to learning 5 languages of love can help people improve their personal relationships, learning these 5 categories, your inner voices - can help improve professional ones. Just like putting an oxygen mask on yourself first, you should learn your voice and how to control before asking your team to do so. And in the meetings - encourage nurturers to speak up (and speak first), creatives think outside the box, guardians ask tough questions, enphasise on connectors' passions (they will motivate everyone else for the change) and ask pioneers to speak last for more positive and efficient outcomes.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five Voices
- Pioneer
- Nurturer
- Connector
- Creative
- Guardian

pg. 70 Guardians are "intent on understanding why change is really necessary and will insist on being convinced before buying into whatever other voices propose. Guardians are always thinking: 'Convince me that change is really necessary. They need it to make logical sense before saying yes to a major change."
pg. 77 Guardians "The desire for truth and for the right decision will often override their personal sentiment for people as well. If they are not careful, they can appear overly critical and harsh when sharing their views, making others feel attacked. "
pg. 177 "By the way, our experience shows that Guardians and Nurturers actually love vision as much as any of the other voices do, but they ask the question, "How do we make sure it's safe for me to bring all the people that I feel responsible for to the other side?" The vision may be compelling to them, but without the bridge they simply are not coming."
pg. 189 "We have a stable culture that allows for people to share what's not working and not hold back when there's frustration or concern. We've been able to shift into reverse, back up, and try again to communicate better and reinforce our foundational belief in the value of every member of the team."

Takeaway: Leaders need to create a shared language so that their team can know when to brake and when to push collectively. By having everyone contribute the final product improves.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars – because I finally understand why I keep organizing potlucks and pep talks at the same time.

As a proud Connector with a heavy dash of Nurturer, this book hit me like a well-timed group hug and a color-coded team calendar. 5 Voices gave me language for what I’ve felt all along—relationships matter, everyone has value, and no, it’s not too much to send a follow-up text and a fruit tray.

This isn’t your average leadership book filled with corporate buzzwords and vague advice. This is a playbook for how to be you, but with more awareness, more impact, and a lot less “Why don’t they get me?” moments. It helped me understand my own leadership voice (aka the person who wants everyone to win and hug it out afterward) and how to communicate with the ones who lead like it’s a strategic war game or a spreadsheet competition.

Whether you’re building teams, raising kids, or navigating group chats without losing your religion, 5 Voices gives you the clarity and confidence to lead with love and results. Spoiler: when you learn how others hear you, everything gets better—fewer misunderstandings, more connection, and way less emotional clean-up.

Bottom line: If you lead with heart but still need a map, this is your book. Now excuse me while I plan a vision board brunch with my team—because leadership should come with snacks.

[Sean Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The central premise of "5 Voices" is that there are 5 broad personality types. It's basically a condensed version of Meyers-Briggs. They've condensed the MBTI categories down to 5, losing much nuance and adding no real new insight. This is followed by a bunch of confusing talk about the "weapon" style of each voice. This didn't really make a whole lot of sense and felt like a big chunk of filler. The most glaring weakness of the book is its constant reference to leadership and leadership voices. The categories they were framing out seemed to be pretty general personal relationship style types without a whole lot to do with leadership. I guess this is because the rationale is to market the book towards business types of who fancy themselves leaders. If you're into this sort of personality typing I can't see why you wouldn't stick with one of the many MBTI books. There's nothing really new here and a whole lot of filler.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A colleague recommended "5 Voices: How to Communicate Effectively with Everyone You Lead," and I was glad to read it. Like most business books, there are kernels of truth that can be helpful if a person is willing to adapt and change. There is also much that seems self-evident. What is useful here is breaking down communication into five primary voices: Nurturer, Creative, Guardian, Connector, and Pioneer, and learning how each of those voices can be heard by those with a different primary voice. A quick read that can be helpful.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it a perfect book? No. I think one of the best parts of 5 voices is being able to look at your whole voice order and see how that shapes your behavior. There biggest insight for me is seeing that, as a Creative, I bring a lot of good to the table--my wiring is different, but not wrong. I now know why I struggle with some people and can learn to appreciate the push back without taking it personally.

[davidgonzalezsr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a basic book about how we are each different and how by understanding our differences we can be more productive. I completed the FREE assessment (80 questions)on the website. You find out your voice and some basics about it. If you sign up for monthly plans you will get more indepth resources and I took a hard pass on that option. I prefer the MBTI as it provides more indepth explanations. The Four Lenses was also a little better product to me. The narration by Tim Andres Pabon was good. I borrowed this book from the library via Libby.

Disclaimer: My enjoyment of the narrator is based on my listening speed. I only leave 5 stars for books I've listened to or will listen to multiple times. I'll update my review if I listen again.

[Nicolas Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Kubicek and Cockram! I love their distinction of the five different leadership voices while also giving the weapons each one naturally uses and the "rules of engagement" each leader should keep in mind. Top notch information, and I plan on using it and sharing it in my sphere of influence.

[Tim Ogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

Give Voices presents a simple explanation of the variances that occur in leaders and teams.

They present the reality of communication and how teams can learn to listen and talk with one another to make progress while valuing the diversity of the team.

I plan to invest my year in developing this framework among our church leadership.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and thought-provoking take on communications styles. This book gives insight into acknowledging the differences between people and how to make stronger connections. A necessary reminder that what we think we are saying isn’t always received as intended and that all voices need to be heard.

[Jonathan Z. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great. There are definitely some pearls of wisdom, but the book either assumes the reader has a Pioneer voice or the authors, one of which has a Pioneer voice, wrote the book from his perspective without much consideration for the other four voices the book introduces. Most of the advice is centered around interacting with people from the Pioneer's point of view.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like the book more if it wasn't just a plug for GiANT coaching and consulting the last little bit of the book. I liked the idea of the five voices and I thought about people as I read each one. This could be helpful for any team, family/marriage. It would be a good book study or something to present to your teammates.

[Lesley Doane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the first books on the list for my new job as an instructional coach! I liked having a new lens to view my strengths as a leader through the power of voice. This was a quick read with applicable strategies to lead a team to successful endeavors and positive relationships. My foundational voice is Creative Feeler.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took the online quiz on the GiANT website that's associated with the book. It got me interested in the concepts. However, I was a little disappointed in the book. I felt they explained the "voice" and outlined its value, but they did not do a very good job of providing stories to back up their points.

[Holly Hillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first half of the book to be very fascinating. Learning about the different communication styles was very helpful. I learned a lot about how I communicate and why sometimes I feel like no one understands what I’m saying when I try to share my ideas! The second half was less interesting and didn’t seem as relevant to my own personal growth in leadership.

[Jeff Schofield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read as I enjoyed this short but insightful book. I have read a fair amount of books in this self awareness and leadership genre, but I think this deserves a place on my desk to be reviewed often. Simple but effective ideas that are easy to understand, implement, and pass on to others.

[Mike Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well thought out book about the ways people approach situations. They make great application to the ideas around the 5 voices. This book can transform the way a team works together once all of the team members agree and work together to understand one another's voices. Cool stuff.

[Felipe CZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of 5 gears, tells us about five different communicative styles: nurturer, creative, guardian, connector and pioneer, which have their own role in groups, and it is best that we give each voice a chance to be heard.

[Geir Ertzgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lydbøker er ikke for meg. Mange bra tanker om ledelse, men boken mangler så og si fullstendig dokumentasjon på påstandene og teoriene, og jeg er i utgangspunktet skeptisk til kompartamentalisering av menneskers egenskaper.

[Liz Sieloff simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book that will effect all my relationships. Both professional and personal interactions. Not only understanding my main voice and how to use it a mature way, understanding others voice as positive.

[Grace Saliba Saad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every team player and/or leader.
The 5 voices book helps you discover your fundamental voice and understand how it feels to be on the other side of you!
I bet most readers have an Aha moment while reading it.