Business leaders need other people to achieve their goals. To engage others, I have long believed that leaders should choose a mission for their company that gives deep meaning to employees' work lives. Couple that with a culture that encourages people to act in ways that further that mission and people will do the right thing.
Today I was surprised to learn a less grandiose way that leaders can get results: they can pick the right words. That was my biggest takeaway from a Wall Street Journal article by Jonah Berger, a Wharton professor, based on his new book Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way.
Here are five such word choices that stuck out for me
1. Don't like, recommend.
Choosing forceful words boosts the chances that listeners will take action.
For example, Berger wrote that recommending, rather than liking something, increased by 32 percent the chances that the listener would take action. Making a request by using the word because "followed by the reason for it, increased compliance by 50 percent," he wrote.
2. Assign roles.
Leaders should help their people see themselves as making the world a better place.
To that end, leaders should assign roles. For example, rather than ask someone to help, ask them to be a helper; do not ask them to vote, urge them to be a voter -- the latter boosts turnout by 15 percent.
What's more, Berger writes, by asking yourself what could you do, instead of what should you do, you open yourself up to think of new and creative ways to solve a problem rather than following someone else's prescription.
3. Speak without fear of failure.
People often see leaders as charismatic. It turns out that charisma comes not so much from how people appear but from their high level of confidence. A study found that people prefer financial advisors who express greater certainty. Sadly, "that confidence outstripped advisers' actual results," wrote Berger.
I find this troubling because extreme confidence can overstep the bounds of honesty. Berger wrote that if you want to hedge your statements, use a first-person pronoun -- e.g., "I am concerned that higher interest rates could be a risk to this forecast."
4. Avoid canned responses, be specific.
People do not like leaders to give them canned responses.
For example, a business leader learned that his company was paying so little money to some staff people that they had to live 90 minutes away from the company headquarters to afford the rent. Due to the high cost of commuting, these employees could not afford three meals a day for their families.
The leader's response to this news -- "I will take it under advisement and get back to you" -- was not ideal. Instead, the leader should have used concrete language such as "I will meet this week with the employee and solve his problem right away."
Berger cited a survey of thousands of customer service reps who boosted customer satisfaction and repeat purchasing by citing specifics, such as "I'll make sure the shoes you ordered are at your house tomorrow" instead of "we care about your satisfaction."
5. Ask for help and more information.
Finally, leaders can make their people feel important by asking the right questions.
For example, leaders who ask for advice make others feel more important. Berger wrote that asking for advice makes the advice giver feel "of course my opinions are valuable, so this person is smart for asking for them."
Leaders can also show they care by asking a follow-up question. He cited a 2017 Harvard study "that follow-up questions carry extra impact." For example, if a co-worker tells you they liked a presentation, ask them which part was most interesting.
Make these five word choices and you can lead people to higher ground.
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