Comments on: Two Voices on: The Words of a Leader

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » The Humanity of Leadership

HRM Today - Blog Archive » The Humanity of Leadership — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:12:29 +0000

[...] and encourage. Similarly, they can deflate, irritate and damage the spirit. Mary Jo Asmus and Art Petty posted a collaborative essay on their respective blogs on the importance of the words leaders [...]

By: The Humanity of Leadership | empathetic employee engagement — hr bartender

The Humanity of Leadership | empathetic employee engagement — hr bartender — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:02:38 +0000

By: Tony Powell

Tony Powell — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:42:25 +0000

Hi Art

Great article. Some readers may not know this but:

Confucius says:

By speaking when we ought to be listening we are wasting words and by listening when we ought to be speaking much may be lost. Its the wise man who know the difference.

By: Sun-Hua Lin

Sun-Hua Lin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:59:22 +0000

Art
I love this post so much. I think words, as well as a smile provides powerful tools in influencing not only yourself, but those around you. A smile will help you create closer bonds with others, while positive words will improve your confidence. Every time I am faced with a difficult task, I will use some positive words to encourage myself, such as, “I can do it!”, and I find that it really works. In addition, when positive words, as well as personal experiences are shared with others, it will induce a positive change on them It’s a great post, and I really enjoy it.

By: Mark D. Cohen

Mark D. Cohen — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:30:51 +0000

Art,

Excellent discussion about the words that leaders use.

As to Mary Jo’s points, I know that there are many times where I have had to postpone speech due to negative (usually angry) thoughts, with mixed results. Someone doing something that irritates me may bring about anger. Even though I do wait a while before speaking, I understand how hard it is to avoid appearing angry, because my words sometimes betray my anger even after deliberation.

You gave an example that hit home for me about a manager publicly chastising an employee. I knew a supervisor that would do that to anyone who made a mistake, even those who admitted the mistakes to her before she caught the mistake herself. This fostered an atmosphere of employees covering up mistakes rather than learning from them.

-Mark

By: Jim Holland

Jim Holland — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:28:09 +0000

Art, this post hits the spot. The Words of Advice are great. I recall an poem, “a wise old owl sat in an oak, the more he heard, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard, oh why can’t we be like that wise old bird.” May all leaders learn to be “wise old birds.”

By: George Smith

George Smith — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:56:15 +0000

This posting rings so true, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Or maybe Rep. Joe Wilson’s “you lie” remark during Obama’s speech came at the right time. Though his remark did shed some light on the discrepancies of a bill, it was inappropriate.

By: Mark Allen Roberts

Mark Allen Roberts — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:13:35 +0000

Great point on the power of our words as leaders.

Our teams want to win; they want to know the vision, the mission, and their role.
We cloud their effectiveness when we speak with data from our gut and intuition, as I discuss in my blog post: http://nosmokeandmirrors.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/youre-gut-and-intuition-are-not-enoughtoday/

Thank you,

Mark Allen Roberts

By: Aaron Assad

Aaron Assad — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:45:28 +0000

I have always thought that words can hurt most that any other action you might do to another person. As Mary-Jo says you need to take time before you let your words go out, especially when you are mad, or too accelerated, I’ve been there and you can end up doing some serious damage that you might regret later, and this can of damage is not easy to forget. Lucky for me I have been able to learn and stop doing this, and like Art says I have become a better listener and make sure my body language is saying the same that my worlds are saying, it is no easy, but I’m working on it. Thanks for a great post!!!

By: garrick

garrick — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:33:55 +0000

I really enjoyed both of these posts. Throughout reading these blogs I kept thinking of how your descriptions, quotes, and analysis paint a clear image of what authentic leadership looks like. Authentic leaders are those that are able to use appropriate restraint to enable effective listening to occur. They “think before they speak.” Thanks mom. Their actions match their words which supports their belief that individual character is everything. They understand the simple yet detrimental power of crossed arms, poor eye contact and a quick response. Authentic leadership is tough…but your descriptions, quotes and analysis assist in describing where we all need to stretch!

By: Saichi

Saichi — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:26:31 +0000

Excellent and thoughtful post. Thanks to Bret for suggesting I read it – in fact he’s the guy who taught me: DWYSYWD – as part of his effort at building leaders when he was a professor at the Univ of AK.
Saichi

By: Art Petty

Art Petty — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:20:37 +0000

Bret, thanks for the outstanding addition to our “words” theme! You are absolutely right. It’s doubly difficult to convey the right tone and emotions in writing…extraordinary care is required. -Art

By: Bret Simmons

Bret Simmons — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:46:36 +0000

This is a great post, Art and Mary Jo! I too think words are powerful. Especially if you are going to write them down in a note or e-mail, consider them carefully. Words also reveal our mental models. For example, the word “subordinate” revelas a very clear picture of power beliefs in the leader-follower relationship. Keep up the good work! Bret