Heather Lavallee had already spent more than a decade in senior leadership positions at Voya Financial before becoming the company’s chief executive more than three years ago. Yet stepping into the top job quickly taught her that becoming CEO can fundamentally change how employees interpret even ordinary comments.
Lavallee recently shared several leadership lessons during a visit to the WSJ Leadership Institute, describing how she adjusted her communication style after realising that employees viewed her words differently once she became CEO.
When Every Question Sounds Like an Assignment
One early experience helped Lavallee understand the difference between speaking as the CEO and speaking simply as herself.
She recalled asking a question about a particular presentation topic. Instead of receiving a simple response, she was surprised when a 25-page presentation came back to her.
Lavallee realised that employees were treating her casual question as a formal request.
The experience taught her an important leadership lesson: CEOs need to make it clear when they are asking for action and when they are simply engaging in conversation.
As chief executive, she recognised that employees are constantly watching and interpreting what she says and does.
That creates a different kind of pressure at the top of an organisation, where even informal comments can quickly become business priorities.
Building a Leadership Team Like a Soccer Team
Lavallee also places significant emphasis on teamwork among Voya’s senior executives.
The company has a 10-member executive committee that meets every two weeks and also spends time together outside formal meetings, including dinners.
Lavallee, who grew up playing sports, compares the executive team to a soccer team.
Each executive may have a different position and responsibility, but the team can only succeed if its members communicate effectively and anticipate what their colleagues need.
She regularly asks executives whether they are getting the information and support they need from one another.
The approach is designed to prevent problems from unnecessarily moving up and down the management hierarchy.
Instead of allowing one executive to bring an issue to the CEO and then having another executive raise a related issue separately, Lavallee encourages leaders to communicate directly with each other first.
Her philosophy is straightforward: problems should be solved as close to their source as possible.
The Value of Informal Conversations
Lavallee also believes some of the most productive leadership conversations do not necessarily happen during scheduled meetings.
She holds regular one-on-one meetings with members of her executive team during working hours. But with Voya CFO Michael Katz, an informal Sunday phone conversation has developed into a regular practice.
The two executives have worked together for years and have built a strong professional relationship.
Their Sunday discussions are not formally scheduled around an agenda. Instead, they use the time to talk through a wide range of issues and think about challenges without the pressure of a formal meeting.
For Lavallee, the practice demonstrates the value of creating space for thoughtful conversations.
Leadership, she suggests, is not always about formal presentations, meetings and decision-making processes. Sometimes, a simple conversation can help executives think more clearly about complicated issues.
Listening to Investors
The CEO’s communication responsibilities extend beyond employees and senior executives.
Voya also maintains relationships with investors, including TOMS Capital, an activist investment fund that has recently taken a stake in the company and raised concerns about part of Voya’s insurance business.
The investor has also pushed for Voya to consider a sale, while Voya has criticised some of the activist’s statements and actions.
Lavallee did not comment directly on the dispute but highlighted Voya’s broader approach to investor relations.
She said the company consistently tries to look at its business from an “outside-in” perspective — essentially asking how the organisation appears to investors and other external stakeholders.
A CEO Who Prioritises Investor Engagement
Lavallee said she spoke with roughly 180 investors during her first six months as CEO.
The effort reflects her belief that CEOs should maintain regular and direct communication with shareholders rather than engage with investors only when a problem emerges.
From her perspective, an activist investor is another stakeholder whose views should be understood and considered as part of a broader investor-engagement strategy.
This approach can be particularly important for publicly traded companies, where management teams must balance long-term business strategy with shareholder expectations.
What Lavallee’s Leadership Style Reveals
Lavallee’s approach highlights several principles that can be applied across organisations.
First, clarity matters. A CEO’s casual comment can easily become an employee’s assignment, making it essential for leaders to communicate their intentions clearly.
Second, leadership teams need direct communication. Executives should work through issues with one another instead of automatically escalating every disagreement to the CEO.
Third, relationships matter. Informal conversations can sometimes create the trust and perspective needed to solve difficult problems.
Finally, leaders need an outside perspective. Understanding how employees, investors and other stakeholders view the organisation can help CEOs identify problems that may not be obvious from inside the company.
Leadership Beyond the Corner Office
Lavallee’s experience illustrates how becoming CEO changes not only a person’s responsibilities but also the way others respond to them.
The challenge is to remain approachable while recognising that the CEO’s words carry significantly more weight.
Her leadership philosophy combines clear communication with collaboration, informal relationship-building and continuous engagement with investors.
For modern CEOs, those skills can be just as important as financial performance or strategic decision-making.
Ultimately, Lavallee’s lessons point to a simple idea: effective leadership is not only about making decisions from the top. It is about creating an environment where people communicate directly, understand expectations and work together toward the same goal.
