Yesterday my friend Fiona or @white_Owly on Twitter tweeted:

When I was drafting my response, I had to rewrite it a few times because I was using words that were NQR (not quite right) at this point in time.

The words I had originally used was “to be bombarded with changes”. The word bombard didn’t sit well with me now. It seemed too angry. If you feel as if you’re overwhelmed, swamped, or things against you, many use “battle” or military terms to explain how you’re going to handle it.

There were a couple of other words which were too militaristic and it got me thinking about how my language needs an overhaul.

How much of these words have become ingrained into the vernacular of business management and leadership?

Of course, I used these words to make a point of the seriousness of the situation. But why did I choose to use them? Was it normal? Was it because it was my first instinct? That I was lazy to think of other words?

No one bats an eyelid either because they’re so normalised and acceptable in our work nowadays. Given what is happening in the world, they mean something else entirely now.

I changed my tweet and quietly resolved to myself to watch my language to one of empathy, care and inclusion. I know it’ll take a while to rethink some words and use other words but it may be these little changes that help change behaviours over time.