These words grew my business

"Stop, Jesse. Words Matter."

I stared at Ric Elias (Billionaire Founder of Red Ventures). I was confused.

After an uncomfortable silence, I asked: "What do you mean?"

Like most lessons I've learned from Ric, I didn't REALLY get it at that moment.

A few months later though, I'd become a HUGE believer in how important words can be.

After the meeting, we decided to change the team's name to "Team π" – the business school students out there will remember π stands for "profit."

We explained the team name, that their mandate was to optimize the profit of this business as we shut it down, and shared their financial plan.

At our next quarterly check-in, my jaw dropped. For 3 reasons:

1) The team had printed t-shirts that had a big π on the front and the back a quote that said "We keep this place afloat!"

They all wore them.

2) The level of camaraderie was extraordinary. They were laughing, having fun, and finishing each other's sentences.

3) They were pacing 30% AHEAD of the plan and pitched me to keep the biz running a year longer than we had planned, to help generate even more cash for the business.

Once again, Ric was right.

Ever since this experience, I learned the lesson and have applied it every time I spot it.

In today's email, I'm going to share 3 reasons I think WORDS MATTER and then some of my favorite "word changes" that have had a big impact on me and my businesses.

First, let's talk about WHY words matter and parse out Ric's quote:

I'm a firm believer that "how you communicate is how you think."

I've never met someone in my career who was great at one but NOT great at the other. Yes, some great engineers can be shy but in small groups or in email, they are succinct badass communicators.

When you settle for words that are "inaccurate" or "too vague," that's really lazy thinking.

Here’s a good example from GrowthAssistant:

For the last 2 years, when a customer would give us “notice” for no longer having a GA, we used the word CHURN to describe that.

But over time, something wasn’t adding up. We would see BIG CHURN but know that we weren’t losing many customers.

So we dug a bit and realized that if we were getting notice from 10 customers, 2 were actually “logo churning” (meaning the companies were severing our relationship).

The other 8 were just reducing/adjusting their workforce with us.

The word "CHURN" was shaping our thinking. It had us doing initiatives that were ineffective.

Once we used the right words, we got much clearer in our thinking and realized there wasn’t even a big problem!

Next time you look at your company's metrics or other names, consider the words you use.

Take 1 minute and write down 3 words to describe yourself. What did you choose?

I could describe myself as "Tall, Brown, and Hairy." Alternatively, I could describe myself as "Father, Sikh, From St. Louis" or as "Enthusiastic, Logical and Curious."

All of these words describe me but they paint completely different pictures.

The same thing happens inside of organizations.

What you call teams, initiatives, and processes SHAPES how these aspects of your company work and operate.

Here's a recent example:

At GrowthAssistant, in the Philippines, we have nearly "400 GrowthAssistants" who work with our clients.

Then we have about 40 employees who actually work for GrowthAssistant. They are "internal" to us.

Without much thought, we called them the "core" team.

I was sitting in a meeting one day and realized the 400 GAs seemed far less engaged than the 40.

This felt like a "words matter" situation.

If the 40 were "CORE", what were the 400? NONCORE? We didn't actually have a name for them.

I slacked Adriane, the CEO, and her immediate response was "Wow yeah, I didn't think about that."

We decided: let's name the 400 "Client Team" and the 40 "Support Team." We explained why, and like the Team π story, the results were immediate.

The 400 cared more about their clients and the company and the 40 viewed themselves with a SERVICE lens.

It's early but we're already seeing delicate situations handled with more care and ownership from BOTH teams.

Look at the names you give departments, job titles and roles in your company.

Are they shaping an identity that's helpful?

When I first started seeing a coach, he (like Ric) paid a lot of attention to the words I used.

After a few months, he shared:

Just SAYING those sentences got my energy amped up. It felt inspiring, powerful, and like I wanted to go get to work!!

It was clear the specific words DID impact my emotions and energy. Which in turn impacts results.

Audit the words you use. Are they adding to or reducing your energy?

Red Ventures taught me to hate terms Client ⭤ Vendor. I like Partner ⭤ Partner.

I'm sure you know the baggage the words "client" and "vendor" carry.

Vendors sell things to clients. Clients abuse vendors. Vendors are a dime a dozen.

Clients are more important than Vendors. Clients hold back information and make Vendors "need to know."

On the other hand, Partners are equals. They try to help each other succeed.

They communicate openly and build trust. Things have to work for both of them to move forward.

I use this on both sides, when I'm a client and when I'm a vendor. And it changes everything.

I hate the word "employee," almost never use it. I like Team or Colleague. Employees "work for the man."

They take orders. They have no control. Teams work together. They coordinate. They Win.

There's another interesting hack here: it's what Conscious Leadership calls "Unarguable language."

My wife and I used to talk about weekend plans. I'd say, "We SHOULD go to Bob's dinner party."

And her response: "No we SHOULDN'T… he didn't come to ours, and we have a busy day, and it's far away."

To which I'd respond: "Well I think it's worth the drive, blah blah." We'd argue.

When we committed to switching the language, when I said, "I'd LIKE to go to Susie's party," Her response couldn't be, "No YOU WOULDN'T like to."

It was immediately "unarguable." She may say "OK, I hear you and I'd like to exercise.

So maybe I go exercise at 6 and then you pick me up at 7." BOOM. One word and a totally different experience.

This is one of my favorites. Start requests with "WILL YOU."

Think about how hard it is for most of us to make a request:

• "I would like to request that you might pick up dinner"

• "If possible, could you pick up dinner?"

• "Can you pick up dinner?"

Most of the time our questions are meek and unclear. Or worse, as CEOs we STOP asking.

We say, "Pickup dinner." Or, "Send me that report." Or "Do that." We bark out commands.

WILL YOU is the perfect question. Will you pick up dinner? Will you send me this report? It is a powerful, clear request.

But it is still a request. And it is also "unarguable."

It naturally invites a. Yes, No, or a counteroffer, which makes it incredibly productive.

Bottom line: Words matter. They shape thinking, identity, and emotions. Seemingly small substitutes can have BIG impact.

What are some word shifts you love? Hit reply and tell me.

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-Jesse