“You’ll smash it.” “You’re making a killing“. “Shoot over an email”. “Find your target market”. “Just keep banging it out”.
How often in business & life do we use the language of violence?
It might seem silly, but the way we work matters – and that includes our choice of words.
The way we speak is reflective of the way we think, the way we feel, the conscious & unconscious ways with which we view & make sense of the world.
If our language of celebration is reflective of destruction – you’re killing it, you smashed it, you owned it, we crushed it – what does that say about visions of success? Must it always come with a cost to someone else?
If our language of operations is reflective of pain – shoot an email, target this audience, find the right execution – what does this say about our work? Is it a place of service or a place of conquer?
The same applies to activism. Words like struggle, resist, strike, fight; how are they then reflected in our approach & embodiment of work?
What would it be like to step beyond the language of violence?
To embody the language of beauty, creativity or regeneration instead?
What phrases would you change?