Page 66 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

THE CONVERSATIONAL APPROACH 57

psychological and cultural: most people measure their self-worth by
the work they do, and they simply refuse to believe that larding
presentations with quasi-intellectual, privileged language can be
anything but rewarding. The self-conscious argot of the discipline
only reinforces a notion of self-importance. It is a crutch, a prop that
many people use for effect, much as they might an expensive suit—
only in this case, it is at their own expense.
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Muscular, straightforward Anglo-Saxon is the language of
leadership—and you can always count on it to serve you well.
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To some degree, we are all guilty—lawyers, business managers,
salespeople, marketing whizzes, engineers, teachers, and professors.
Rather than prop us up, the language barriers we erect only serve as
distractions, leading us away from our objective of clarity until we
collapse under the weight of our own words.
Those who insist on business-speak or memo language to inter-
act with other businesspeople, can expect by their own choice of
words to be viewed as functionaries (the exception is when both par-
ties are comfortable speaking in code as a kind of shorthand). By
contrast, those who are seen as straight talkers are also seen as the
leaders to whom the functionaries report. When push comes to
shove, you can always count on straight talk to get the job done.
Recognizing an unmet need, in 2008 the entire McCain presi-
dential campaign came down to just two words: straight talk. McCain
lost, but the phrase resonated across party lines and attracted people
from diverse ends of the political spectrum.
America’s traditional corporate culture is only now beginning to
recognize the business value of straight talk, led by a new generation
emerging out of Silicon Valley and now evolving into what some
people are calling the New Economy. But one top business leader
was way ahead of his time.