Language

The words we use matter.  If we are careless in the language that we use, it indicates a carelessness in thinking.  The language we choose reflects our thinking.  Similarly, the words we use can subtly change our thinking.  Consider the following:

• When we travel, we aren’t travelers in a foreign land but foreigners in a traveled land.
• An employee or a customer who is wheelchair bound isn't a handicap or a handicapped person, but a person with a handicap.
• When we are addressing a customer service issue, we are not dealing with a soon-to-be former customer with a complaint but a customer who was not satisfied.  Or if you are a glass half full kind of person, we are dealing with a customer who is giving us a chance to improve.

To some extent we are talking about semantics.  But how we label things makes a difference in how we think and act toward those things.  In a recent blog, I shared a quote by Abraham Lincoln: "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."

Would you rather deal with problems or opportunities?  Would you rather be managing a response or leading your team to the answer?  Would you rather be a disruptor or a change agent?

Related articles

• Selfie

Words Matter

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."  -- Rudyard Kipling

Words matter.  The world is full of anonymous geniuses who didn't have the words to express their brilliance.  The difference between a great leader and a manager is not much more than the ability to generate and excite followers through the right words delivered in a skillful, emotional way.

Pay attention to what you say and write, because the words you use determines what people think of you.  Pay attention to how you say it, because the delivery of your words is how people remember you!