The Power of Profanity

Everyone has heard it and probably a very largethe English language that motivated and moved their
number of individuals have used profanity to make astaff to productivity and to results. At performance
point in a conversation. Does profanity in the businessmeetings between employers and employees, do
community have an impact or is it a barometer toyou actually think that when the subject of how you
just how intelligent a client, manager, or CEO is?would advance the company or bring better
Charles Osgood once made a comment on "words."workmanship to your department that the use of
He said "Compared to the spoken word, a picture isprofanity gave you a better score? Why do colleges
a very pitiful thing." Words can be so powerful thatand higher institutes of learning have English/
they change the course of history and they can andgrammar, and even public speaking classes but none
have brought powerful nations down to their knees.have Profanity 101 - a class that will better your
It is the choice of words, whether in social orchances for success in the business world? Point in
business situations, that tracks the course of thecase, the more advanced your vocabulary, the
meeting, the evening, or even just a walk throughbetter handle you have on expressing your needs
the park. Have you ever gone to eat with yourwith words, the use and need for profanity
family to an upscale restaurant and the table next todecreases tremendously because you are in control,
you - an after business meeting get-together of menyou have nothing to hide with vulgarity, and it is
women, or other group of adults, that used languagemore important to you to get your point across in a
that more than emphasized their laughter and theirway that motivates and inspires those you are in
gestures. Did you leave that restaurant refreshed andcharge of, whether that be an assembly line, a sales
grateful that you were privvy to such language?department, or even a branch office.
Could you honestly say that the conversation at theProfanity does have its place - in the mouths and on
next table made your night out memorable? It maythe minds of those whose limits of language is to be
have if your vocabulary was built around the premisepitied not copied. In any business setting, vulgar
that the harsher the words, the more authority thelanguage is a marker of someone who does not
speaker commands.have the capacity to lead, but only to the immature
Most individuals who have reached the point of beinglevel of not being able to control his/her own temper
managers or in places of authority in their chosenor outbursts and can only use tactics that are not
fields did not get there because they werebusiness worthy. Something to think about.
well-versed in foul language. They moved up the©Arleen M.
ladder of success because they had a command of