In a recent conversation about The Value of I don’t Know, a friend and valued mentor of mine, Theresa Lewandowski Van Etta relayed this:
Leadership and language are essential partners in business.
– Theresa Lewandowski Van Etta
This resonated with me. Let’s chat about the ‘why’.
I’ve previously blogged about the power of language, which I think is also summed up by Leah Boroditsky when she says:
What we have learned is that people who speak different languages do indeed think differently and that even flukes of grammar can profoundly affect how we see the world.
Words are the physical manifestation of an intent to speak, the audible result of will.
If we can readily agree that language, that our words, matter then it is not a leap to see why our words impact leadership.
Language reflects our thoughts, our essence. Leadership is the thoughtful and methodical application of a continually studied framework that becomes a mindset.
If our language does not reflect the culture we are trying to build in our businesses, it impacts and affects our leadership ability and credibility.
One of my favorite quotes is ‘a wise man knows that he knows nothing.’
We could launch into an existential discussion of repeated observation being the basis of what we ‘think’ we know but for the purpose of this blog post, I’ll stick to a business aspect.
What possible positive business benefit could there be in admitting you don’t know something?
It’s thermodynamic. Remember that the strategy that got you to the top will not keep you there. Your business requires a steady stream of new input and effort. Admitting you don’t know and questioning what you think you know will help keep you on top of your field.
I talk a lot about frameworks. Admitting you don’t know and incorporating the sustainable competitive advantage of continual learning into your framework will help position your business for sustained success.
I woke up today thinking about language and it’s impact on our lives. It seems to me that language inherently both limits and expands our ability to frame thoughts. This is a premise of the book 1984 by George Orwell, in which the powers that be seek to manipulate existing language to remove the ability of people to even express negative thoughts. How powerful language is, when we stop to consider this premise.
When researching this line of thought, I was quite surprised to learn this is a relatively new line of thought. I encourage you to read the whole article, but this piece by Leah Boroditsky sums up eloquently what I struggle to articulate:
What we have learned is that people who speak different languages do indeed think differently and that even flukes of grammar can profoundly affect how we see the world.
I’ve previously blogged about why I think theory matters. Boroditsky expands beyond my post describing theory as a framework, describing a much broader vision of language as a framework for the very essence of thought.
Do you have an idea that is failing to launch? Seth Godin, the NetworkingBlogFather, calls ideas that explode Purple Cows. If your purple cow is failing to launch, there is a tendency to want to explain this away as ‘well they just don’t understand the idea or the potential’.
I have engaged in this line of thought, too, thinking that an idea I had was just waiting to go viral. If just the right person picked it up, or just the right person saw the potential, then surely it would explode across the Internets.
It is not incumbent upon the world to conform to your vision of change. – Jay Samit
This rocked my metaphorical world. I’d been expecting the potential of my idea to speak to people, to speak for itself.
But, that’s not how this works. If a consumer has to realize the potential of the idea and look passed delivery of the same, the idea will probably not launch.
If your idea isn’t launching, take an objective look (or have someone else do so).
Does the idea answer a specific, easily articulated need?
If not, it is incumbent on YOU as the idea owner to figure out a new approach.
In doing so, I hope to gain insight into the wisdom of those who came before us.
I hope to learn new ideas and perspective.
I also read toward the goal of synthesis. I hope that by reading a wide variety of books across multiple disciplines, I can see connections and add value where there are opportunities.
Along these lines, I’d ask, “What’s the best personal development book you’ve ever read?”
“Most CEOs see the future as a continuation of the path that got them to the C-suite and not as an ever evolving jungle.”
– Jay Samit, Disrupt You!
This is a lesson for anyone in a position they’ve worked to obtain. In our interconnected, global economy, disruption can occur from anywhere and at any time.
What got you there will not keep you there.
The only way to stay on top is to continue to innovate.
“If uncertainty is indeed pervasive, it is imperative for organizations to create the ability to operate comfortably in this condition…”
– Frans P.B. Osinga, on John Boyd
The 21st century business environment is complex. It is perhaps the most complex business environment to exist in the history of commerce. We have built an infrastructure that supports inter-global commerce. A tribesman of the Masai Mara selling wood carvings can, with a connection to the Internet, connect to consumers in America. The scale and potential of this economy is staggering.
It’s also disruptive in that it defies continued domination of a marketplace by a single idea. Google disrupted Yahoo, Facebook disrupted MySpace. Startups are pulling niche traffic (like sales) from Facebook groups and Craigslist.
Uncertainty is a guiding principle of this globally connected marketplace.
“Boy, this job feeds my family and pays my bills. Don’t you ever complain about this job again or you can leave right now.”
Those words come back to me often, twenty five years after they were spoken. Over the last couple of days, I’ve had a couple of conversations about work ethic and would share a story with you
One of my first jobs was clean up at a construction site. My job was to clean up the debris and scrap lumber, nails, shingles, tiles and sawdust that building homes generates.
I was 14, I believe.
One particularly hot day in Las Vegas, Nevada, I was maybe four hours into a shift and feeling particularly grumbly about having to perform manual labor on this day.
It’s fascinating to me how formative early life lessons are and this day I was about to receive one.
So, being particularly grumbly and fourteen on this day, I thought it would be wise to vocalize this to the gentleman I was working for.
This man, whom I remember to be around the age I am now, who’d spent 20+ years building homes, who’d worked with his hands to provide for his family for two decades, was a good boss…demanding but fair.
Fourteen year old me said something to the effect of how I shouldn’t have to be out in the heat doing this to earn a dollar. I may have said this more than once in the four hours I’d been out there that day.
What I remember quite clearly is when he’d had enough.
“Enough,” he said, sharply (clearly indicating he’d had enough).
He fixed me with his steely gaze and pointed a weathered hand and finger at me.
“Boy, this job feeds my family and pays my bills. Don’t you ever complain about this job again or you can leave right now.”
Each syllable dripped with firmness and a resoluteness that I can hear and see to this day.
He let the silence sit for a moment, as my teenage self struggled with warring emotions and responses.
“Well?” he said, after a moment.
I closed my mouth, bent my back and head to the task at hand and went back to work. In the summer months I worked for him, I said (and thought) not one more word of ingratitude or entitlement.
When the time came to go back to school, he handed me my last check personally.
I thanked him and proceeded to start back toward my bicycle.
As I walked away, I opened the envelope and peered inside. He had doubled my last check.
I turned back to thank him. He was looking at me and as I opened my mouth to say, “Thank you” he waved me silent, gave me a thumbs up and turned to go back to work.
In that lie another life lesson, for another post.
I’ve blogged about permission marketing and the power of authenticity but I wanted to talk today specifically about what the future of content marketing looks like.
There’s something I’d highlight today that I think a lot about: quality, authoritative content.
With the massive amount of posts, tweets, blogs, snapchats, instagrams, etc., out there, if you are producing surface level content you are shouting into the void.
I think to make a difference, to be heard, you have to establish yourself as a passionate advocate and student of your niche. Some would say be the ‘expert’, but there’s a finality to that word that I don’t subscribe to personally.
Every day, study your art.
Every day, practice your art.
Every day, share your art.
Become the voice of your art with quality, authoritative content.
“Most CEOs see the future as a continuation of the path that got them to the C-suite and not as an ever evolving jungle.” 
