Check Your Rhetoric: What kind of leader are you?

We want to take a moment to acknowledge the power of rhetoric, especially in a room that teeters on the edge of an information vacuum.

We all live in an information universe, where (more than ever before) almost anyone is able to make use of free space. We have an entirely new economy based on this information age—largely a positive in a world that otherwise is at a loss for new free space available to those in need of basic survival. But, we're in the midst of a push against it.

As it's been throughout time, it is rare for a people to continue to freely, mutually and equally, enjoy shared space. The inescapable politics of life occur as easily as sharing a simple, small room, and it's no different in a bigger one. Without responsible rhetoric that leads to equitable solutions and progress, there is risk that can lead to disastrous endings. Further, in order to survive harmful rhetoric, means to redirect it must be developed.

How rhetoric matters to the room, weighted against goals of the speaker, should be the first consideration of any audience. Second? How these things will matter to those outside the room. Inclusion must be forefront in the minds of a successful organization.

You could use the exact same verbiage in one kind of atmosphere and feel it hit the floor with the screaming-silent thud of mutual rejection. The same choice of words in another kind of space can effect a completely different outcome. Therefore, it's important to implement a viable solution of positive progress through an approach of empathy, not of challenge—unless you're willing to admit to yourself that you only care about one perspective and that you will resort to division of the otherwise whole community solely to that end.