Let me start by saying that I don’t think euphemisms are bad.  Actually, I think they great.  They help to anchor ideas into our minds, often constructive and helpful ideas.  For a student of leadership, which we all should be, these hallmarks will and should remain with you as guideposts in your leadership throughout life.  However, I frequently come across leaders, some of whom are even passionate about leadership, but their knowledge is limited to lists of euphemisms.   Their ability to apply their personal judgement to real  life situations revolves around their list of euphemisms, and sometimes it is a fairly short list.

Let’s start with some euphemisms that many may recognize.  Lead by Example,

Now, let me share a couple of examples.  I once read a cover letter with a resume, which kept referring to the colloquial expression “that dog won’t hunt” and “that dog will hunt” and he kept referring back this reference.  Needless to say, I was not impressed with his inability to express himself more formally nor his inability to think about the precise language that would articulate the virtues of his strengths.

Another time, I was interviewing candidates for a C-Level leadership position, and during the interview, the candidate referenced one euphemism after another.  There was one that he used several times in response to various questions, and that was that he was going to “inject some vitality” into the organization.  He came from an organization where almost all their leaders used these euphemisms frequently, but that was a crutch which inhibited his further learning and personal growth.  He probably had the intellectual capacity to do our job successfully, but he had this major shortcoming with his leadership profile.  He would need several years of coaching and personal commitment to practice thinking beyond these euphemisms and articulating his independent thinking before he could be ready for this level of leadership.  He would be fine in his current organization, but even there, he would be a superstar if he practiced more independent thinking. People are very complex.  They have complex personal attributes, skills, capabilities, levels of professionalism, ideas about how to interact with one another, personal life circumstances, complex relationships within an organization and so forth.  That makes leading them properly equally as complex.  So, we all should aspire to advance our understanding of leadership.  The way to do that is to intentionally practice independent “thinking” beyond our set of euphemisms.  Articulate complex situations without relying upon and utilizing the crutch of euphemisms.  In so doing, over time, you will vastly improve your personal judgement, and your vocabulary, and you will elevate your ability to lead to unprecedented levels.  It will put you head and shoulders above your peers.