Tag Archives: Margaret Mead

Word to the Wise: Sesquipedalophobiacs Welcome

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to clarify your meaning and enhance your authority. Reading time: 3:14

         The sesquipedalophobiacs are coming! The sesquipedalophobiacs are coming! Hail to the sesquipedalophobiacs. Also known by its 15-syllable cousin hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.

The Wizard of Oz gave up on using big words.

          Still trying to spit out that mouthful? No wonder leaders strive for clarity. They hate big words. They even have a name for the  fear of long words: sesquipedalophobia.

        (Hey, there’s a long word for everything, even a long word for the fear of long words.)

       Leaders seek clarity and embrace the biblical reference (Ecclesiastes 6:11) when Solomon observed: “The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?”

      They agree with President Dwight Eisenhower’s observation that “an intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.”

        And these haters of long words –sesquipedalophobiacs — acknowledge Thomas Jefferson’s point that “the most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” Continue reading →

BOOK IT: Make Time For Your Write Stuff

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you write your book. Reading time: 3:11.

          You’re smart. You’re thoughtful. You’re insightful. Your colleagues tell you that you should write a book. But you’re too busy –even with the services of a ghost writer to prod you.  You just don’t have the time.

          Me neither. That’s why I had to find the time to write my book and now I want to help you find the time to write yours.

Here are a few examples from other leaders who converted their excuses into excursions and booked their own flight into the publishing world.

          They wrote their books despite overwhelming odds. They found their Write Stuff  despite challenging obstacles. And they reinforced their leadership role –one chapter at a time. So can you.

EXCUSE No. 1. “I just don’t have the time.”

            Wayne Dyer wrote Your Erroneous Zones in 18 days; Voltaire wrote Candide in four weeks and Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in six weeks. In two months, Winston Churchill wrote his first book Savrola.  Continue reading →

Stories Breathe Life Into the Bottom Line

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

         Here’s an idea to capture the imagination of your followers. Reading time: 4:16

     The children’s story teller had just finished a 30-minute performance when a 6-year-old boy excitedly ran up to her; yanked joyously on her hand, and smiled: “Hey, thanks for the movies!”

        The story teller had captured the boy’s imagination.

          The words painted a picture in his mind. The story teller’s engaging tone and exciting inflection tuned her voice into what seemed the surround sound quality of a theater. Only the popcorn seemed to be missing from the boy’s  “movie” experience.

        With that attention-commanding sense of relevancy and influence, it’s no wonder story-telling is a key leadership skill, according to Harvard professor Howard Gardner. Continue reading →