Date: 9/14/2015

Title: LANGUAGE, TONE, & LEADERSHIP – Part 3

By Jill Olson

Research says our voice tone is related to behavior processes. As a leader, are you using a voice tone that gives your team a sense of confidence or a sense of impending doom? Does your voice tone say this project will be tedious or lead to great solutions? Remember, we thin-slice with voice tone.

Our choice of language (words) is also thin sliced by our team. Through the process of thin slicing, we actually experience biological effects that are related to choices of words. Consider the following:

• “We have a meeting with a new client. I’m not sure what changes she’ll want to make to our prospectus.”
• “I’m sorry team, but my direct boss has asked that we move Project B to the top of the line. She wants it completed by EOB tomorrow. This may seem impossible, but we’ll give it our best try.”
• “I’m having trouble supervising Janet. She continues to engage in behavior after we’ve discussed how detrimental it is to her career. It is discouraging.”

Imagine the unconscious reactions of people listening to this language. Remember, thin-slicing is very powerful. How motivated will a team be to meet with the new client? Will the team working on Project B soon get discouraged….causing them to lose creativity and productivity? Is the person supervising Janet really looking for solutions or just a way to get rid of her?

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.