A penchant for wordplay
Have you ever had one of those leaders? "That dog aint gonna hunt!" "Let's bake this into the plan." "Put some meat on the bone." As a writer and a speaker, I use wordplay but I do so cautiously, especially when leading a group of people. I usually follow wordplay with some descriptors of what I am talking about so I can 'paint a clearer picture' (there's some wordplay!). While wordplay can be effective in making salient points, it can lead to confusion, especially if overused. I had a leader once who I respected but who used "bottom line" several times when speaking. It was hard to determine what was truly the bottom line. When a leader is older and more experienced, those in his or her charge may struggle to keep up amidst a sea of wordplay. Lastly, a leader must be careful when wordplay is used in an attempt to downplay something egregious. There is a fine line between optimistic soundbites and deceit. Look no farther than the White House press room for examples. More on that in a future blog. Here are my thoughts on wordplay in leadership.
Form deep bonds of trust and understanding between you and those you lead. The deeper we know each other, the more intuition can be used to understand what is desired or what is truly being described.
Establish psychological safety. I speak of this often and it is so important. You will want an environment where people can speak up and say, "huh?" or look at you bewildered, signaling their confusion, all without repercussions.
Use wordplay to capture attention and hammer home a point, but follow with more explanation. For example, "Let's punt on this problem (wordplay - a clear indicator that this problem will be addressed later but it lacks the 'why'). I'm concerned but it is not a priority among other more urgent problems. The ship won't sink (wordplay), meaning we will survive just fine if this specific problem goes unaddressed (more meaning behind 'ship won't sink') until the end of the month (clarity on where/when to punt)."
I have a penchant for wordplay but it is a cautious and conscience penchant, not a love affair. Offer explanation where needed and create an environment where people are free and safe to speak up and seek clarity on what 'meat' you want on what 'bone'.
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell