As leaders, it’s easy to get caught up in delivering excellent results at pace, and to do that you need to make sure that you increase the chances that you bring your people with you.
But did you consider that the choice of language you use has a profound impact on how the message is received.
There’s just one word that sometimes makes the world of difference…
Just.
One word.
Just is an interesting word. A short word with a lot of implied meaning. On the surface it denotes simplicity and speed. The ask can’t be a difficult one after all, it’s prefaced with “just”.
“Can I just borrow you for a couple of minutes?”
“It’ll just take five minutes to do this”
“it’s easy, you just need to…”
Behind the scenes, it also tells the listener something very important which the speaker may not have appreciated. That the person speaking has already assessed the request and has reached a judgment of its worth in terms of time, effort or cost. The result of that assessment is that the task on which the listener is about to be asked to embark is minor.
In the attempt to downplay the task and thus the effort required, the speaker is taking a significant risk. If it’s as they thought, then the listener feels trivialized. If I’m being asked to do this, it’s obviously not important enough to merit more than a marginal explanation. This is a footnote, and as such how can I give it my best?
Conversely, if the speaker has misjudged the required input, this has a profound impact on trust, both in the short and long term. How can I trust the speaker to assess the value of something that they also didn’t consider to be important?
Sometimes “just” is used in the context of downplaying the impact of something negative…
“they’re just words”
“he’s just joking”
Again, even with the best of intentions, it denies the listener’s perspective and imposes that of the speaker.
Once you’ve read this, take a blank piece of paper and make a note over the next few days of how many times you use, or hear, phrases that include the word “just”.
Once you’ve done that, ask yourself how you might frame that differently.
Just is a small word. But use it with caution.
If you’d like to discuss more about how our use of language is one of the building blocks of a great culture, drop me a line directly, or contact us at Willow Ethos to find out how we use behavioural science to understand and shape culture change.
