Small change: be clear in your language

To state the obvious, no-one enjoys being on the receiving end of bad news. Few, if any, enjoy being its messenger. Wanting to lessen the damage is human nature.

From this start point, it’s only a hip, skip and jump (or, perhaps, ’strategic realignment’) into the world of corporate doublespeak, where sacking people becomes ’synergy’, major failures result in ’temporary negative growth’ and frankly horrible work represents a ‘development opportunity’.

The problem with this sort of language is that it clouds meaning, obscures intent and avoids responsibility. At heart, its intention is to lessen the damage to one audience only: the messenger. This is not good leadership. It is always worth remembering that the kind thing is sometimes not the nice thing.

Something to consider: what is the simplest and most direct way that I can talk to my people about what’s happening?

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