The Power of Words

I was reading on my work's social media site the other day and came across a post from an associate who was the target of some harsh, unfair and unkind words from her supervisor.  I read through some of the posts that this associate had shared throughout the year and found a seemingly upbeat, energetic, loyal person.

Why the harsh words from her supervisor?

It has made me really stop and think about the power of words.

If you are in a supervisory role - and we all are in some aspect of our lives - we must pay attention to the words we speak.

They hold more power than what we think.

A seemingly innocent comment can be taken as very serious and potentially crush an individual.  Am I being too dramatic?  Can our words really CRUSH an individual?

Yes

Very easily

They can certainly crush the motivation right out of a person.  They can crush the loyalty out of a person.  They can crush the desire right out of a person.

I have often counseled that it's not our main job as a leader to motivate people. Nope - most folks come in wanting to do a good job.  They are excited about starting something new.

Our main job is to not De-Motivate

Step one for this job is to know the power of our words and choose them carefully.

This is hard to do but with practice it becomes less hard.  I say "less hard" because I haven't mastered it yet and probably never will but as long as I am aware...I have a shot at success!

As for the associate mentioned above - many reached out to her through the social media site and I know she is going to be ok.  I believe you get what you put out into the world.  She puts out positivity.  She is going to be fine.