Here’s an email I wrote to Leadership Reno County alums today, 9/9/13:
I was thinking this morning about using words and the inherent power they have. A popular workout regimen was claimed to have “terrorist” tendencies, people that disagree with us are labeled as “intolerant” and there’s a host of other uses of language that come out in print or from our mouths that may or may not be helpful. There’s a tension here, isn’t there? On the one hand, at times we’re compelled to raise the heat through our words. On the other hand, we can manage ourselves to such a degree that we would never use our words to raise heat (although there’s quite a good bit of talking happening between our ears which may or may not raise the heat internally for us). And, both of these tensions intersect in managing self. So, for those who tend to be heat-raisers with words, is there a degree of intentionality in what you write or say? Or do you tend to fly off the handle? Maybe you need to manage self for more effective interventions. And, if you tend to be one who talks more to yourself rather than others, maybe you need to manage self by intentionally intervening and asking that conflictual question or pushing back on that prevalent interpretation.
Today, let managing self be seen in the words you use and see if that doesn’t help us make progress toward the things we really care about…