In This Story
Ever wonder who that inner voice in your head really is?
I have.
For years, I would find myself thinking about the voice in my head. It doesn’t feel like me because sometimes we, well, talk. I would ask, “Who’s in there?” Who are the we? I had never been taught about the voice in my head that talks to the other voice in my head. A second voice. I decided to uncover this mystery and learn the neuroscience of this phenomenon, which is what I am sharing with you here.
Why It Matters
For leaders, professionals, and everyone making daily decisions, the voice in the head can mean the difference between clarity and confusion. The question isn’t whether you have an inner voice; it’s whether you know how to train it to serve you.
In organization development (OD) and leadership contexts, cultivating this voice becomes a skill for navigating complex interpersonal and systemic dynamics. Practitioners who tune into their inner voice build the capacity to pause before reacting, to check assumptions, and to choose responses aligned with values and purpose. When we’re facilitating a change process, coaching a client, or managing a team under pressure, this awareness allows us to listen more deeply and act more intentionally, hallmarks of practical OD work.
What Is the Inner Voice?
Every human carries a silent companion: the inner voice. Neuroscientists call it inner speech—the internal dialogue that shapes how we reflect, plan, and regulate our behavior. Lev Vygotsky first theorized that this voice arises from childhood speech, eventually becoming a tool for self-control and thought (Vygotsky, 1934/1986).
Brain scans confirm that inner speech is real, not imaginary. Inner speech lights up many of the same regions used for speaking aloud, such as Broca’s area and the auditory cortex (Morin & Michaud, 2007). In fact, when people reflect, remember the past, analyze feelings, or even daydream, the brain’s language centers get activated. We often talk to ourselves in our heads to be self-aware.
Why It Matters
Developing self-awareness is a performance tool, not navel gazing. Psychologist Alain Morin (2011) identified five functions it serves: regulating behavior, guiding decisions, taking others’ perspectives, driving self-improvement, and deepening social connection. In plain terms, it helps us manage ourselves, plan, grow, and build stronger relationships.
Neuroscience also shows that the brain’s default mode network (DMN) is active during rest and self-reflection and plays a central role in this process. When the DMN turns on, our inner thoughts help us make sense of experiences, imagine the future, and align our actions with long-term goals (Andrews-Hanna et al., 2014).
The Inner Voice as Mirror and Compass
The inner voice holds wisdom when treated as a partner, not a dictator. Think of it as both a mirror and a compass.
Mirror: Inner speech reflects our beliefs, assumptions, and biases. Neuroscience shows that it supports metacognition and our ability to think about our thinking, and builds the flexibility to detect flawed reasoning and unconscious bias (Morin, 2011). This reflective power allows us to grow and strengthen connections with others.
Compass: Third-person self-talk, using your own name instead of “I,” creates psychological distance that calms stress and sharpens focus (Kross et al., 2014). Saying, “You’ve got this, Lorne,” isn’t silly—it’s neuroscience. This simple shift helps regulate emotions and boost performance under pressure, from public speaking to high-stakes decision-making.
In OD practice, this inner mirror and compass can be the quietest yet most reliable consultant in the room. When working with teams in conflict or facilitating change, that cultivated inner dialogue keeps us grounded in curiosity rather than defensiveness. It invites reflection before reaction, a vital discipline for trust-building, and effective collaboration.
How to Train Your Inner Voice
The inner voice is a tool you can refine. Here are five evidence-based ways:
- Cultivate Awareness – Mindfulness strengthens areas of your brain that support attention, emotional regulation, and self-awareness. Over time, mindfulness gives you focus and balance, helping you manage stress more effectively and make more transparent decisions. By noticing your internal dialogue without judgment, you reduce rumination and build self-control (Tang, Hölzel, & Posner, 2015).
- Practice Reframing – Deliberately shifting how you interpret experiences strengthens the brain’s control over emotional responses, improving resilience under stress (Ochsner & Gross, 2005).
- Create Space for Dialogue – Journaling or asking yourself in the third person, “What should Lorne do?” often brings more clarity than first-person self-talk (Kross et al., 2014).
- Anchor It in Values – Decisions tied to personal values activate brain regions linked to meaning and motivation, aligning choices with long-term goals (Kelley et al., 2002).
- Use It for Decision-Making – Under pressure, engaging your inner voice activates prefrontal networks that support risk evaluation, delayed gratification, and ethical reasoning (Bechara, Damasio, & Damasio, 2000).
ODKM and the Practice of Awareness
My experience in the ODKM program at the Schar School of Policy and Government deepened my relationship with this inner voice. Through reflective practice, systems thinking, and dialogue-based learning, I learned to observe not just what I thought but how I felt. The courses and conversations I had with peers helped me recognize when my internal dialogue was guiding me toward clarity or when it was clouded by bias or fear.
ODKM’s emphasis on “use of self” has long supported inner development, and now, faculty such as Penny Potter and Stacey Guenther are expanding this tradition by introducing the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), a framework of 23 competencies that connect personal growth with leadership capacity. Their work highlights what neuroscience also shows: Meaningful outer change begins with inner awareness. In both OD practice and brain science, self-reflection is not a luxury; it’s the mechanism for transformation.
That practice of awareness continues to shape how I approach facilitation, leadership, and research. The ODKM program strengthened my mindfulness skills, enabling me to utilize those tools with wisdom and compassion.
Closing Thought
Make friends with your inner voice. Ask it questions as though it is wiser and more intuitive than your own conscious mind.
Grounded in neuroscience, the inner voice is part of the brain’s natural system for reflection, regulation, and decision-making. When you treat it as an ally, that voice becomes a powerful tool for clarity, resilience, and growth, especially in the complex, relational work of organization development.
About the Author
Lorne Epstein, MS, SHRM-SCP, is a neuroscientist, researcher, and keynote speaker who consults with senior leaders on improving decision-making outcomes. His company, Electric Cow, delivers evidence-based workshops on decision-making and psychological safety for health care and corporate professionals. Epstein graduated from the ODKM program in 2022 and is currently pursuing a second George Mason master’s degree in neuroscience, where he is researching how fluctuations in neurotransmitters impact leadership and decision-making.
References
Andrews-Hanna, J. R., Smallwood, J., & Spreng, R. N. (2014). The default network and self-generated thought: component processes, dynamic control, and clinical relevance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1316(1), 29–52.
Bechara, A., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A. R. (2000). Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10(3), 295–307.
Kelley, W. M., et al. (2002). Finding the self? An event-related fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(5), 785–794.
Kross, E., et al. (2014). Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: how you do it matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(2), 304–324.
Morin, A., & Michaud, J. (2007). Self-awareness and the left inferior frontal gyrus: inner speech use during self-related processing. Brain Research Bulletin, 74(6), 387–396.
Morin, A. (2011). Self-awareness part 2: Neuroanatomy and importance of inner speech. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(12), 1004–1017.
Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(5), 242–249.
Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213–225.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language (A. Kozulin, Trans.). MIT Press. (Original work published 1934).