202408191241

5 words sabotaging your authority in high stakes meetings (and 5 scripts to fix them)

A young woman came seeking advice.
She's an MBA student and navigating her leadership with a startup.

I asked her to paint me a compelling picture of the startup's future 2 years from now.

She couldn't.

I invited her to a workshop where I would be presenting a tool to paint that picture.

Her response:
"Thank you for sharing, Joya! I will try my best to attend."

Why is word "try" such a lame word in the workplace?

↳Leaders are decisive and assertive. "Try" makes her appear unprepared to take full responsibility for a task. It weakens her authority and influence.

↳In high-stakes or professional environments, clarity and decisiveness are key, and "try" works against both.

↳I now doubt her commitment to succeeding at this startup
↳I doubt her follow through.
↳I doubt her reliability.

"Maybe"

Before: "Maybe we should consider extending the deadline."
After: "Let's extend the deadline to ensure we deliver our best work."

"Try"

Before: "I'll try to have the report ready by tomorrow."
After: "I will have the report ready by tomorrow."

"Hopefully"

Before: "Hopefully, the new strategy will work."
After: "I’m confident the new strategy will yield results."

"Just"

Before: "I just wanted to check in on the project status."
After: "I wanted to check in on the project status."

"Possibly"

Before: "We could possibly launch the product next quarter."
After: "We will plan to launch the product next quarter."

___________
I'm a recovering TV anchor offering scripts to one time pressed woman to become a better advocate for herself at work.