Five words can mean so much: Hemmingway, not Faulkner. If you have read my writing much, you know I’ve written before on the technique of “less, not more”, applied across many areas of our lives. I’ve come to understand that brevity in leading others is a lost art. It of course is not an absolute, sometimes it takes a lot more than five words. As I have always loved reading Hemmingway over Faulkner, I know both received the Nobel Prize for literature. Outside of literature, I love the simple, direct songs of Hank Williams, but I also love “El Paso” or “Gentle on My Mind”. William Faulkner, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, holds the honor of having written the longest sentence in published literature. On the other hand, Hemmingway’s writing philosophy can be summed up in fourteen words; “Write the best story you can, and write it as straight as you can.” Five words can mean so much, and I find that leading from this perspective gets the biggest bang for the buck.
So then why do so many so often err on the Faulkner side? A couple of reasons probably. I imagine a lifetime of academic programming plays a part. We are always working towards page count or word count, and the higher your education, the more it comes into play. To gain even more leverage, some of us then develop a passive voice too that adds words, but unfortunately subtracts impact. We probably underestimate our audience most times too.
But, five words can mean so much: “Last Thing On My Mind,” “All You Need Is Love,” “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” “Another One Bites The Dust.” Can you think of your five-word favorites?
Five words can mean so much. It really comes down to respecting the listener – respecting your team members to find that balance between brevity and clarity. Respect the follower, as you would have them “do unto you”. I’ve been known to be that guy that keeps a performance conversation going, when it should be done, just because I’m having so much fun. I even tell people all the time – “Don’t sell past the close.” Don’t be that guy. In the last hundred years we have moved from a culture of character, to a culture of personality. Five words can mean so much.
Let’s do something different – we can’t help but get better:
- Read a book – the book is called “Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”. I am not advocating introversion. I am advocating learning a bit about the power of just five words (versus fifty!).
- Make an effort – reach out to someone who, upon reflection, you realize never says all that much. Get to know him or her … find the power in just five words.
-Don Brown
don@donbrown.org
Don Brown dedicates his career to ‘helping people with people’ in leadership, sales and customer service. Bilingual and experienced at the executive and line-level alike, you see the results of his work across dozens of industries, including brewing, automotive, airline, banking and medical equipment.
Speaking, writing, coaching and selling to the best – Ford Motor Company, Anheuser-Busch, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Jaguar Cars, Hilton Hotels and many, many more – Don takes great pride in long-standing customer relationships (some running well over twenty years).
