Meaning Matters
/In 2026, I’ve already had a number of conversations with really smart leaders about meaning. Knowing what we mean and what we are talking about matters when we are working to align a team for great results. Here are a few examples:
Impact vs Legacy - Turns out what people meant was almost identical, but both held a firm view of which word to use and why. The debate over which word is important, but shared meaning gets you further.
Brutal Honesty - meaning openness and transparency, but for some ‘brutal’ also meant unnecessarily harsh or cruel. That's an important distinction.
Feedback - A team wants to create opportunities for reflection, improvement and growth. In their context feedback has become a loaded word. They could either create new working meaning within their team and/or choose another word. At the moment the lack of shared meaning is distracting them from their intent.
We don’t have to completely agree on the details, but it’s critical to discuss and share meaning broadly if we seek to align teams. The nuance in conversations like these is important. If a leader is intentionally using particular words to frame action, direction and connection in a team, it’s useful if they can clearly articulate what they mean. Sharing tangible examples and stories helps. If a particular word blocks progress, it's OK to find another that better articulates the shared meaning.
Word choice counts. Meaning matters.