Language – Business Babble


Jul 23 2015

Reflecting on the working month so far……… I have been amused by the amount of “business babble” that I have encountered. The aim of which I am assuming is to enhance the sound of the speakers’ intellect and supposed importance. However, it strikes me that they more often than not can’t further explain what they mean, because in truth, even I very often don’t have a clue what they’re on about.

This causes me to return to feedback I received early on in my career, my boss at the time stated that I needed to be more “strategic”. So I, an eager employee, ran off and implemented “strategy” – what I mean to say is I just thought about what that word meant, too embarrassed to ask anyone around me, I had carried on as normal. No one further explained how I was to apply this to my role, nothing about how I was to adapt “what I was saying, or what I was doing”. Because those are the two key things we should focus on – how do these changes affect what you say or what you do?

For example, one of my clients recently said that they needed to be more “customer aligned”. I questioned them, “what does that mean concerning your role, what does that mean you now need to do or say”, their answer: “I’m not actually too sure”. They of course hadn’t asked their boss or director, and this is usually the outcome – people are accepting jargon-based critique’s and feedback not knowing what half of it means.

The key is to be detailed, speak at the correct level, don’t litter your language only to make yourself feel more articulate. A good leader will connect with their colleagues at a level of behaviour addressing things they need to do and say. The challenge is that it’s hard, however that’s what developing leadership skills is all about.

Let me know what you think?

Annie

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    MD of Utilities Company
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    Development Consultant
  • “Annie is an engaging, authentic and warm hearted workshop leader. She is the consummate professional in that she delivers to the brief, exceeds expectations and has boundless energy and enthusiasm that captures the attention and interest of the participants. As an executive coach, Annie truly connects with her clients and brings her wealth of knowledge and experience to the sessions which ensures clients leave feeling that they got great value and are able to achieve exceptional results.”

    HR Director IT Company
  • “I have worked with Annie as a client both professionally in my capacity of Learning and Development Director at Centrica and personally as a professional, personal to me on a coaching programme. Annie is empathetic, professional and a great coach, I would recommend her to any client or company.”

    Learning & Development Director, Centrica
  • “The coaching was excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to grow in their professional environment.”

    Director at Open University
  • “The coach was very relaxed and could immediately empathise with any given situation, whilst being able to give constructive help. Annie very quickly grasped where my strengths and weaknesses lay and could gauge challenging situations very well – only an experienced coach can do this.”

    MD Financial Services
  • “Annie’s challenges enforced reflection on my thought processes and therefore my behaviour patterns. A very satisfying experience.”

    Director Open University
  • “Quantum have provided a very professional and friendly service. The requirements we have requested have been very specific and individual to our companies needs, and Quantum have gone out of their way to understand these requirements and organise and develop the training accordingly. Annie Richardson is always very professional and is also well received by all those who attend her courses. Quantum is a delight to work with and I would strongly recommend their services to anyone wishing to develop their company’s development initiatives further.”

    ICRH Group Leader, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
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