The Words We Say

I've been thinking a lot the past few days about the words we say and how they impact others. I was recently involved in a meeting where we were pushing the supplier for action in order to progress on a specific initiative. The vendor assured us that they would work diligently on the project and that action would be taken. My business partner then replied "I know that this initiative will finish successfully because Kendra is on your team, but I want to know specifically what you will be doing to help." Although this particular person sparingly uses encouraging words, those ones struck me as very impactful and stick with me even today. He offhandedly made a public acknowledgement of my hard work and it made me feel proud of the work that I did and gave me insight into his opinion of me.

That's what leadership is. Leadership is understanding and reflecting upon the power of your words and choosing, every time, to use them to build others up and not to tear them down. My boss said to me after a meeting today "I was just watching you speak in that meeting and was extremely impressed at how you handled yourself." Wow. One sentence that I will likely not forget. One string of words used to build me up, make me feel important, and to build my confidence.

I also have a voicemail still saved on my phone from a supplier thanking me for my partnership and my dedication to our team. I am proud of these little moments. I am proud that I come off as collaborative. I am proud that I will keep working when others give up on progress. I am honored to be a person that a supplier will call to deliver that exact message. So honored, in fact, that I keep re-saving that voicemail any chance my phone tries to delete it.

Just in the time I have been writing this post, a coworker stopped by my desk to inform me that our Director made some extremely positive comments about me in the last leadership meeting. The fact that he took the time to give me insight to the opinion of me within the office makes a difference that, as an aspiring leader, I know he is making consciously in order to build me up.

We so often forget to make the positive comments, to take the time to give someone a call, to stop by their desk and fill you in on conversations you aren't privy to. But at the end of a long day, long week, or long year, those are the words that I cling to that keep me going and are the words that we should really be focusing on.