The energetics of language is fascinating. If you haven’t already seen it, watch one of Dr Emoto’s videos on the impact of words on water molecules here or his rice experiment here.
In summary, he has 3 beakers of rice and fills them with water. Then every day for a month he says ‘Thank You’ to the first beaker, ‘Your an idiot’ to the second beaker, and then ignores the third. The impact is that the first beaker of rice thrives. The second beaker of rice turned black, and in the third beaker, the rice rotted. When you consider that we are made up of at least 60% water, it’s interesting to contemplate what impact your words have on others, their performance, engagement and even team culture.
Our bodies are so in sync with our minds and react at a cellular level to each word we think and say. Our thoughts and words then create an emotional reaction, and then our emotions determine what action we take, which determines what outcomes we get. So what impact are your words having on your team?
If there’s some room for improvement, then follow this 3 step process to start to influence better performance:
- The first thing to do is notice what you’re about to say and catch yourself before those words come out of your mouth (this will get better the more conscious you become).
- Then think about what impact you want your words to have, what’s the intention behind them?
- Then frame what you want to say in a way that will have a positive impact on the person you’re speaking with.
An example might be, if you’re having a performance related conversation with a team member with the intention of turning performance around, rather than saying: I‘ve noticed a drop in your motivation lately which seems to be having a negative impact on your performance and we really need to have a talk about it.’, consider saying “Let’s see how we can get back on track and create a clear vision of what we want to achieve together from here and what your contribution is going to look like.” Imagine being on the receiving end of both of those statements and tune into how your body reacts.
Now that we’ve brought this topic into your consciousness, you will have the awareness and gradually implement small changes that make a big difference on your team and the people in your life (see what I did there 🙂 )
If you’d like to work 1:1 with me to identify how your language might be impacting your team’s performance, and how to turn it around, reach out to me here, or take a look at one of my coaching programs here.
