Do You Have a Leadership Accent?
I heard an interesting message yesterday at church. One of the questions asked of the leaders, and volunteers was this: “do you have a leadership accent?”. What is a leadership accent you ask? Well, the message went on…
Most of us have an accent. You can tell almost immediately if someone is from the south, or from the midwest, or an eastern european country, south africa, etc. Even Californian’s, who I actually thought were the only people on planet earth without an accent, have been said to have an accent.
But what is a leadership accent? Leaders speak with “we” and “us” instead of “they” and “them”. Leaders take responsibility, and work with the people they lead. A none leader might say, “they have decided to do the music like that”, or “It was them who thought it would be better to do it that way”. On the contrary, a leader would say, “we have decided to do this”, or “Let us try to do it like that”. Leaders are in the game, they don’t speak from the outside in, but from the inside in. Leaders know the people they work with and serve. There is no distinction, or segregation – we work together, helping us grow.
Next time someone speaks, listen to their use of “us” and “them” or “we” and “they”, you’ll be able to tell quickly if that person is a leader or not.
Next time you speak, listen to what you use. Are you a leader?
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