“You have to think for yourself. It always amazes me how many high-IQ people mindlessly imitate.”
That particular pearl of Warren Buffett wisdom is particularly befitting in the case of executives’ vocabularies today.
Managers at all levels have been seduced into using trendy terminology and fashion-speak, to the extent that – pressed for a conventional, standard English alternative – many struggle to remember one. While this jargon (which includes words and phrases that once had entirely different meanings) has become part of the corporate lexicon, it has done so both to the detriment of verbal and written expression, and also to the credibility of those that pepper their communications with it.
Cut the ‘World Class’, ‘Best of Breed’ Bullshit
We’re talking here about anything from jaded and arguably meaningless descriptors like “cutting edge”, “best of breed”, “best in class” and “innovative” (the standard resorts for the average web, brochure and bid writer), to the questionable “leverage”, “push the envelope”, “close the loop”, “state of play” and “go-live”, right through to the more juvenile expressions like “no-brainer” (that have no place anywhere in business).
This type of language is the domain of the try-hards (if that’s not a fashion-speak item, itself). If you’re a senior executive, don’t do that to yourself. Rise above the temptation to appear “hip”. You’re a leader, after all. And the first place to demonstrate that leadership is in your own communication.
