[December 14, 2017] Leadership has always been about the clear and concise use of language. English as a language, however, is fraught with blurred and convoluted meanings as anyone learning it will attest. Good leaders strive to overcome this problem by the use of precise language and continually improving upon those communication skills.
My first semester in college at Texas Tech University, I had a Trigonometry graduate student teaching a class of incoming freshmen. Great guy, but being from the country of India, his English skills were poor. Being new to college, everyone was afraid to ask a question and so it took us three weeks to finally interpret the word “perpendicular” from what he said. Obviously, this is a crucial idea in the study of math.
Precision in the use of language is difficult and requires preparation, focus, and intent to break through the fog of normal, everyday terminology and use of colloquial phrasing. It does not mean that leaders should oversimplify problems but should make an effort to understand who they are speaking to and use more carefully chosen words.
A good friend of mine likes to use the words more, most, and many as adjectives to give a sense of proportion. He is an engineer who trained in the best universities but who constantly has to explain himself. Engineers must give an accurate idea of what they are doing and how they are doing it. For example, we use the concept of “85 percent complete” to mean a very specific standard has been achieved. He uses the word “most” in the same context. That creates misunderstandings with his work team and superiors.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa
Nelson Mandela is known for his leadership over South Africa in some of its most turbulent times in the 20th Century. What this quote of his says to me is that language has meaning at both the intellectual and emotional level. To be a great leader, one must speak to both and convince each. That is what real leaders do.
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