A Tale of Two Conversations
Last week, I overheard two calls in the same office.
The first: a client on the line. The manager’s tone was warm, patient, precise, every word weighed like gold.
The second: a staff member with a question. The same manager’s voice was sharper, quicker, almost clipped. No malice, just… different.
If you recorded both calls and played them back, you’d swear they were two different people.
THE WHY: The Invisible Cost of Tone
For a small business in the Netherlands, your team is not a separate audience from your clients, they are your first audience. If they leave every interaction feeling less valued than the people outside your company, they will quietly downgrade their effort, creativity, and loyalty.
Governance and trust start inside the building, long before they reach your client. If the inside voice is harsh, the outside reputation will eventually catch the echo.
THE NUMBERS: The Ledger of Respect
- Staff turnover in Dutch SMEs costs on average €4,500–€6,000 per role replaced (recruitment, training, lost productivity).
- Miscommunication and poor tone lead to up to 17% productivity loss, according to EU workplace studies.
- One disengaged team member can quietly cost you two to three invoices’ worth of lost work each month.
WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU: The Myth of “Professional Distance”
There’s a deeply ingrained belief in some entrepreneurs: “I can be brisk with my team; that’s efficiency. Clients need the polish, staff know how I really am.”
It’s a cultural blind spot. In reality, the “real you” is the company culture. If your people only see the impatient, hurried version, that becomes the norm they pass on to each other, and eventually to your customers.
The polish you give clients should not be a performance. It should be the consistent language of your organisation.
DECISION COMPASS: Questions for Today
- If a hidden camera recorded my interactions, would I be proud to play them back at a team dinner?
- Do I prepare for internal meetings with the same attention I give to client calls?
- When correcting a mistake, do I teach or do I discharge frustration?
- Would I stay in my own company if I were a junior staff member?
- Am I more patient with a paying stranger than with a colleague who keeps the business running?
FINAL REFLECTION: The Echo You Own
Leadership is not measured in how you speak when the stakes are high, it’s in how you speak when no one is watching.
The voice you use inside your company is not just a reflection of your mood; it is the architecture of your culture. And culture, unlike contracts, cannot be enforced by law, it can only be sustained by example.
Co-Creator of Xtroverso | Head of Global GRC @ Zentriq
Paolo Maria Pavan is the structural mind behind Xtroverso, blending compliance acumen with entrepreneurial foresight. He observes markets not as a trader, but as a reader of patterns, tracking behaviors, risks, and distortions to guide ethical transformation. His work challenges conventions and reframes governance as a force for clarity, trust, and evolution.
