THE LANGUAGE OF STEWARDSHIP

I’m still blogging about the stewardship leader model in business.  Last week, I mentioned language and its affect on business results.  The words we use continue to occupy my writing and consulting this week as well.  Let me give you an example related to two simple words “but” and “and”.  “And” is inclusive and creative; “but” negates everything that came before it. 

And oh how many times I’ve used “but” in a discussion with someone.  It’s so difficult to get that word out of the vocabulary. 

I’m working on a leadership language model for my book.  It’s a collection of words and phrases categorized into different groups such as the language of stewardship.  I began gathering these words during interviews with leaders and consulting and working on projects.   Some of these words include: shared vision, shared goals, interdependence, mutual benefit, and co-creation.   

I saw a good example of how someone puts these words and leadership concepts into action a few months ago.  I was engaged with a global firm to develop a strategic communication plan for them related to a new technology implementation.  The team leader made a decision that consultants, like myself, would not be identified as “vendors” instead our names were added to the project team list as if we were employees.  It was transparent to anyone we worked with as to whether we were employees or outside consultants.  This eliminated the conflicts I’ve often seen on projects between the “consultants” and the employees.  For this project, we were a united team working together on shared vision and goals.  

What words and phrases are you using in your steward leadership model?  And how are you implementing the concepts behind the words? 

Until next week,

Dr. M.