One Small Change You Can Make to Increase Engagement Now

What’s in a name?

Since leading the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts has bucked a long-standing tradition. Instead of referring to lawyers arguing cases as “Opponents,” he calls them “Friends.” About this shift, Harvard law professor Richard Lazarus said in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “I think it does have an impact on the atmosphere.”

Several attorneys, including Tom Goldstein, a frequent lawyer before the court, described the cultural influence that Chief Justice Roberts has had on them. “We take cues from the chief justice,” Goldstein said.

Carter Phillips, who has argued more cases before the court than any other lawyer, had never used “friend” before Chief Justice Roberts arrived, but now uses it and “colleague” exclusively. The Journal reports that “he ‘had no idea in the world’ that his rhetoric had changed.”

As I read this story, I couldn’t help but think of my early attempts to sell training to Target Corporation. In an effort to align with their unique culture, I adopted their ubiquitous language of “Team Member” to describe employees and “Guests” for customers.

Sometimes this language shift is conscious, but frequently, as in the case of Carter Phillips, we don’t even realize we’re doing it. As Philip Resnik, director of the University of Maryland Computational Linguistics and Information Processing Laboratory, explains in the Wall Street Journal article, “Below the level of consciousness, we often match our language to that of somebody who is more powerful in a given situation.”

And that means, when we’re conscious about it, we can affect others’ language—and the resulting experience and emotion—as well.

I grew up reading Sid Hartman, the famous local sports columnist who calls everyone his “close personal friend.” While it might have seemed hokey at times, it endeared him to a community, influenced his own commitment to others and has resulted in a long list of people who would say the same of him.

Think about how you, as a leader, could increase engagement and improve the environment around you by making a few simple naming shifts. Instead of saying:

Competitors
Users
Candidates
Them
Employees
Supervisors
Patients

Try saying:

Friends
Supporters
Partners
Colleagues
Collaborators
Community Members
Guests

Where could you lift the tone of your leadership by shifting the names you use for others?

• Tweet
• 
• 

Comments

comments