The Language That Shapes Performance
Most managers know communication matters, but few realize how profoundly language shapes the world their teams live and work inside.
The philosopher and rhetorician Kenneth Burke called this invisible influence a terministic screen. Every vocabulary, he said, acts as a filter: it directs attention toward some parts of reality while blinding us to others.
Language doesn’t just describe what’s out there, it creates what we see.
When a leader refers to people as “resources,” the organization becomes a system for allocation. When that same leader talks about “partners” or “colleagues,” the organization becomes a network of relationships. The difference isn’t cosmetic. It’s ontological. Each set of terms creates a different experience of work and a different set of possibilities for action.
Burke put it this way:
“Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature it must also function as a selection of reality; and to this extent it must function also as a deflection of reality.”
In other words, every management vocabulary hides as much as it reveals.
Consider two familiar approaches: Managing by Objectives and Managing by Commitment.
The first centers on metrics, control, and compliance: a world of targets and deadlines. The second centers on promises, relationships, and trust: a world of ownership and integrity. Both can achieve results, but they live inside entirely different linguistic worlds.
If you want to change performance, start by changing the language that defines your world.
Try these simple experiments:
- Listen for your screens. What words show up most in your meetings: “deadlines,” “priorities,” “resources”? What assumptions ride along with them?
- Reframe the conversation. Replace “I’ll try to…” with “I commit to…” and notice how your level of ownership shifts.
- Invite new possibilities. Ask your team, What conversations are missing because our current language doesn’t make them possible?
Burke reminds us that all human action is symbolic action. In organizations, that means language is leadership.
When we become conscious of the screens through which we see our people and our work, we open the door to transformation—not by adding new tools or strategies, but by speaking a different world into being.
Set up a call here and let’s explore your terministic screen: https://link.effectiveactionconsulting.com/widget/booking/gfM1fEz68dVFDRKcbMhd