Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!
Did you like the movie “Rudy”? The coach gets the team psyched by acknowledging challenges and sharing the plan to overcome them. In business, this works too. In fact, professors at Texas A&M studied motivational language theory (MLT).
In a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article they share “most winning formulas include three elements: direction giving, expressions of empathy, and meaning making.”
Here’s a succinct summary of the three elements: Direction giving – People want to know what’s expected of them. Empathetic language – You’re talking with a human… act like it. Meaning-making language – Answer why this is important.