The power of words

Many of us don't realise the power our words can have on the people around us. It's even more the case for those of us who are founders and leaders of businesses - who inherently speak from a position of power. Over the years, we've all been told how comments made in haste or as an afterthought were taken to heart by staff, and ultimately had a lot more impact than was never intended. 

The words we choose to use in order to communicate ideas make a difference - and the more senior we are, the more difference it makes. The way that we frame our thoughts, or the approach we take to telling our staff what we want them to do can mean the difference between staff becoming super engaged or completely disengaged and disillusioned. 

Imagine the following, you've just received your worst customer satisfaction ratings, ever. What do you do? You could send out an email or call for a meeting and tell your staff to 'pull finger and try harder because this is totally unacceptable. Or you could take a walk and take a deep breath. Pause, then tell your team that although this result is hugely disappointing, you are confident that with hard collaborative work the company can turn things around. You could ask them what they think needs to be done to achieve the results that you all hope for - and how you can help them do it. Which way of communicating do you think will get the better results? 

It is always worth taking the time to think through the message you want to convey before going into meetings or other important conversations. Even five minutes to sit and frame your thoughts into words can make the difference between having a frustrating and unproductive exchange and one that leaves you and the other party on the same page and ready to move in a positive direction. 

I have a meeting planning tool; something I share with our clients to help them get the most out of meetings, it provides guidance when it comes to taking the time to formulate their thoughts into the best words to fit the audience and the situation. I work with clients to ensure they know how to be clear about the purpose of the meeting and its intended outcome, I encourage them to consider how they want the person to feel and to think after the fact, I also suggest that clients think about the questions that will get the person engaged in the conversation to achieve these outcomes and results. 

You're going to get a great deal more engagement from your staff if you aim to create an opening for dialogue, rather than driving the whole conversation from your side. It serves the dual purpose of letting your staff know that you want to hear what they have to say - while also widening your perspective as you understand things from another angle.

CHOOSE WORDS WISELY although so much of communication is non-verbal (so much so that it could easily be the basis of another column) the words we choose are imperative. As leaders we have the power to build people up or tear them down, all through carefully chosen, or ill-considered, communication. It's not only about people's feelings, whether positive or negative, our words also have the power to communicate and convert a totally coherent picture or a rather muddled one. Taking the time to really pick the right words isn't a thing to leave to academics or professional writers, it's something that all of us ought to do. 

Business owners who communicate powerfully, concisely and succinctly have staff that are clear on what is needed from them, who know what they need to do to get there, and are more engaged in all that they do. Consider the power of your words and the impact that they have and you might just find that a new approach to communicating with your people revolutionises your interpersonal relationships and puts a whole new 'pep' into your business

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Why you need a growth mindset