“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa
Words are especially the most powerful power available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of discouragement. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble.
Real-life example – Guess the biggest reason why managers do not have a regular one to one feedback session with their direct reports?
They do not like uncomfortable conversations with them. Everything else is an excuse that is disguised as something else. But it is pointing to the same reason above ultimately.
If you believe in the power of spoken words. Here is a trick that can always help to navigate through this uncomfortable situation.
Before such conversations, ask yourself this question and respond honestly
“Do you want him to win or lose?”
If you genuinely want the person to win, you will have a very different communication. Starting right from its content to its tone to its influence.
And if you want the person to lose, any conversation you have will force you to always find faults, roadblocks, and issues. They can try as hard as they might to ultimately lose.
“Think of the power of words.” Swami Vivekananda
“Why do I have to tell him to be there when there is a release or customer call. He should know it for himself. He should care”
Do you want him to win or lose?
“I need this in the next 1 hour and I don’t care how you do it”
Do you want him to win or lose?
“You are not matching your expectations. And if this continues I will have to fire you”
Do you want him to win or lose?
“How could you not think of this scenario? It’s just so obvious”
Do you want him to win or lose?
Good managers are always looking for ways to make their team members win with “THE POWER OF SPOKEN WORDS”.
Trust me – I have met few best ones and they only made me believe in the power of spoken words!
“The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest.” -Markus Zusak
