Corporate Speak is Dead: Long Live Authentic Dialogue
What you can do to stand up and stand out
Soon after I made an announcement to colleagues that we could build a grassroots movement in our own company, an external consultant cautioned me about how my efforts might be perceived. Because self-promotional tactics run rampant in so many organizations, he said that even creating a movement can be perceived as my way of garnering attention for myself.
Really? Do these people even know me for 2 seconds?
His words carried with me for a very long time.
I have often found myself uncomfortable when people dominate conversations using fancy corporate jargon that covers the fact that they have nothing to say. Anyone who knows me well knows I much prefer to sit in the background and give my 2 cents of wisdom only if I have something worthwhile to share.
But those who are loudest in any corporate room are the ones who are often seen and heard.
Speaking Simply and From a Place of Truth
One reason I believe in avoiding corporate jargon and speaking from a place of authenticity, is that truth carries power. When you can share a real story that comes from a genuine place of informing, it means something more than jargon ever could.
When you speak, share a fundamental and honest truth. People will connect with your story because something in it speaks to them, it resonates, sits with them and grows. Think of the power of many people expressing their truths simply and in plain language. Expressions such as ‘we are better together’ exist because we are better and stronger together.
A Collective Gathers Strength
A movement is never about bringing any one individual to light, not about self-promotion nor shouting from the rooftops using jargon or meaningless rhetoric. This may sound noble — it might even say unrealistic, but what we do (Vanguard Voices) comes from the heart, and is a labor of love focused on making workplaces across the globe better for everyone.
Psychological safety — which is learning to listen, not to the most prominent voice in the room but to people from various walks across an organization — is a human topic. This is not about self-promotion — this is about all of us. As a collective looking to foster a shared voice, this is something we rely on to ensure our message is heard.
The Human Behind the Face
We all wear masks at one time or another. At work your mask is one of efficiency, of towing the company line and speaking corporate speak. It may be because you believe you need to stay off the radar. You may think it is part of your job. You appear to be shouting from the rooftops because you believe there is security in being seen and heard and that your contributions to the company matter less unless attention is focused on you.
Whatever mask you wear at work, whatever your station within your company, you must remember that we are all people. Every person within a company deserves respect and attention for their successes and accomplishments, big and small. It would be best if you understood that whatever attention you will receive through self-promotion is nothing compared to what you can achieve through lifting others up, through seeing the human beings behind whatever job title, role or mask they may be wearing.
The Good Among Us
There are good leaders among us who value psychological safety, whether they know the term or not. Now is the time for those leaders to lean into their authentic voices. Now is the time to drop the corporate speak, to stop worrying that you will be forgotten if you do not self-promote. Now is the time to elevate your teams, hear their concerns and stories, and elevate the individuals around you so that your whole company rises.
We are all better together, and that means people at all levels of an organization, people at all stages in their careers, and people across companies who value truth and authenticity and understand that when teams experience psychological safety, they have room to grow, to expand and ultimately, succeed.
