Impact of the language of success

Learning the Language of Success

Ever wonder how one of your peers got the promotion, or reached their goals ahead of you?  Do you wonder how they inspire success in their team, while your team still argues about every idea you discuss?  Your peer took the time to learn the language of success and you need to learn it too. It’s a secret so basic, many of us forget to pay attention to it. It isn’t about drafting papers, though that’s a good skill too. The language of success refers to positive, targeted language that we use every day with our co-workers.

The Impact of the Language of Success

The Power of Words

Words are powerful. Words can boost or damage confidence companywide, because language drives culture in every organization. When you speak positively about your organization, morale rises in your circle of reference and spreads from there.

“If everyone in your organization is talking about the same thing, you’re more likely to achieve it.”

– Col Garth, Forged in 84

When you’re fired up, you speak passionately about your ideas and your goals. When you do that, everyone around you begins talking about those ideas and goals. That chatter turns them from thoughts into reality. In fact, the outcome of every commitment you make is determined by your language.

Other Changes Language of Success Can Make

Language builds confidence. You can use language to describe what you think makes your team good. Focusing on strengths in others brings out those qualities. Everyone likes to be recognized for their talent and efforts.

Language that recognizes strengths and expectations, cements a team. Look around your workplace and listen. Do you hear team-inclusive words? Team Inclusive language includes “we”, not “I”. If you’re hearing how good “I am” throughout the office, you have problems to resolve and reconnections to make. When you hear how “we can do it” or even better, “we did it!” you’re building a successful team.

Describing Yourself 

Even the language you use to describe yourself matters. When you’re expressing yourself, referring to what you aspire is a powerful way to connect. It’s not bragging to communicate your willingness to talk about traits you value. It’s great to let others know you are willing and able to progress, with emphasis on willing. And using stories to illustrate those traits, like diligence or organization, cements their value in your team’s mind too.

Define it With the Language of Success

Everyone has a different opinion of what success means.  No one can read your mind to know what you see as success. So lay it out for the rest of your team. Use powerful language to convey that success such as drive, triumph, accomplishment, and achievement when you define the goals. When you talk about accomplishment, remember success is driven by commitment and teamwork and your language must be too.

Language of Failure

Besides powerful, success building language, we need to understand which words achieve nothing good. The language of failure includes words like dumb, stupid, and failure when describing oneself or a worker. Using these words will not change a disappointment into an achievement. In fact using language like this plummets morale and disconnects team members.

Language that Allows an Out – Blame Game

Another type of language of failure is in the blame game. When you use it, you may not realize that It comes off sounding like excuses. Worse, it shows your subordinates that excuses are an acceptable “out”. Saying “Jones my project late because he didn’t get his part of the project done on time.” won’t fix Jones. Neither will it get the project done on time. Earlier, a team member needed to go to Jones or a supervisor to diplomatically inquire about Jones’ timing problem. They could have helped Jones get the project back on track.

The Impact of Using Words That Define Success

We’re human. Some days we roll out of bed and show up at work with less self-motivation than usual. On those days, a leader’s use of the language of success can help bring back both focus and motivation. The words leaders use can change the daily direction of the entire organization. Learn more about Leadership and the Language of success at CommandReady Programs page or contact us for more information.

1 thought on “Learning the Language of Success”

  1. Sounds great. Our attitude determines to a great extent how we function. Thank you for writing this.

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