Fundamentals of Level Three Leadership

86. The Language of Influence

Concept

Most of us use language bits and pieces that we have made habitually. Many of these phrases, while “accepted” in “normal” conversations, can and often do create defensiveness and shut down any change process. We can think of a conversation like a dance where we want to coordinate our movements to a pleasing outcome. Then, my colleague Alec Horniman, would say we can think of a person’s effectiveness in life on a scale from 1 to 5. The “1’s” never got to the dance. The “2’s” in life got to the dance but never went inside, just hung around outside the door. The “3’s” got inside and then sat through it on the walls. The “4’s” in life are out on the dance floor enjoying the experiencing and learning new steps. ...