The Power of Meaning

To name – To give meaning to something through the power of our words. These words are not ‘sound waves’. They are a creative power resident within each person, allowing them to craft or define their relationship/s through the words chosen.

The meaning is not in the thing itself but in the words chosen to define it.

Personal example – When I was in first grade, I was given an IQ test, and my score was borderline mentally retarded. The name the educational system was trying to give me was that I was stupid. I was tempted to accept the ‘name’ given me as I assumed the educational system knew more than I did.

Words like ‘smart,’ ‘educated,’ and ‘scholar’ are social words created by leaders in systems to define their relationship with people they define as fitting into specific categories. This person is a scholar; therefore, we must treat them in a certain way.

(At a deeper level, it also shows what you value, but that is for another conversation.)

The ability to name the world means that we have the power in our language to define our relationship to everything and everyone we engage. Let me repeat this: this ability is resident within each individual whether or not they know it.

All that is to say this: A leader's primary role in tension is to manage the meaning of the tension and, through language, help them deal with it in a healthy way. (My father helped me interpret the meaning of the test by telling me that I was not stupid. His leadership helped me rename my relationship with education.)

Reflective questions

Are you aware of the power to name within yourself?

How do you use this power in your leadership?

How can it also be twisted by people to distort reality?