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Do You Have a Language Liability?

According to a Career Builder Survey on Workplace Swearing…
  • Sixty-four percent of employers said that they’d think less of an employee who repeatedly uses curse words
  • 57 percent said they’d be less likely to promote someone who swears in the office
  • Half (51 percent) of workers reported that they swear in the office
  • The majority of those (95 percent) said they do so in front of their co-workers
  • 51 percent cuss in front of the boss.
  • Workers were the least likely to use expletives in front of senior leaders (13 percent) and their clients (7 percent)
If your language is putting your promotion in jeopardy, why would you do it? What would it take for you to stop?

Childhood Conditioning

SoapWhether we want to admit it or not, we’ve all been influenced by childhood events. Remember as a child when you first experienced older kids swearing on the school playground? On some level, these early role models exhibited courage and reckless abandon that you admired. For better or worse, they helped enhance your vocabulary. Was there ever a time when you showed off these new, more colorful vocabulary skills within earshot of your parents? If your parents were from the Old School, you likely earned yourself a mouth washing. From that point on, you were really careful about your language lapses in front of your parents. But swearing still offered you a chance to exhibit renegade behavior that belied your age. That same juvenile satisfaction is likely still driving your adult language lapses. And the survey shows how your language can hinder both your career goals and your ability to lead others.

This Just In!

Since you’re not on the playground any more, it’s no longer cool to use profanity. Are you finally grown up enough to stop trying to appear grown up? Your current classmates (professional colleagues) are less than impressed.

Swear JarYour Career Swear Jar

There’s another traditional remedy for curbing profanity. The swear jar. The swear jar provides a way to immediately recognize (and fine) your bad habits and helps to raise your awareness of the frequency and severity of your problem. To enhance YOUR awareness, ask yourself:
  • Might it be wise to apply the swear jar idea to advance my current career?
  • How many times in a typical day do you swear or curse at work?
  • Do I ever swear in my emails? (Your problem is more damaging than you think)
  • Does my use of profanity demonstrate superior communication skill? Or am I a language hack?
  • Your Bonus
    Your Bonus
    What if you imagined part of your next raise or bonus sprouting wings and flying away forever – each time you utter an off-color word or phrase?
  • Isn’t that what that survey is really telling us?
  • Are you willing to allow your outdated juvenile motives to continuously curtail your career?
Whether you actually get yourself an actual swear jar or use a virtual one. I challenge you to keep score of your swears. You might be surprised at the damage you’re inflicting on your ability to lead.

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