Leading Through Language

INTRODUCTION

After 15 years of coaching executives and managers on how to communicate as leaders, I have reached a simple conclusion: jargon in the business world is getting in the way of effective leadership. Now, I could tell you why I believe this, but instead let me share with you three stories that illustrate this reality.

STORY 1: “AM I BEING FIRED?”

My first story begins with a simple question posed to me two years ago by Jessica, a friend of mine who worked as a director of sales in a mid-size Canadian technology company: “Do you think I am being fired?”

She'd called me up for advice on a Friday afternoon because she had just had a very confusing conversation with her boss. She had been called into a meeting to discuss her group's performance, which she admitted was lagging due to the low performance of some of her sales reps. She had grown unhappy in the role and had been contemplating a move, but hadn't told anyone yet.

After 30 minutes of seemingly productive dialogue with her boss about how to make changes to her team to improve sales, she was feeling better. Then her boss said, “Well Jessica, we have to wrap up, and I'm glad we talked because we need to be aligned on our human capital strategy on a go-forward basis.”

Jessica paused, unsure of what to say to this, or even what it meant.

Her boss continued, “Look, I know your personal blue-sky growth plan sees you growing with an organization that's a segment leader, and while we hope we'll get there, we're not ...