As I came down the stairs I was delighted to see the spectrum of colours reflected on the wall. The sun was shining through the window at just the right angle for the light to be broken down into its constituent colours.
As a kid I was fascinated by science, as a financial analyst I was keen to get behind the numbers and as a coach I partner with my clients to peel back layers of meaning and their worldviews.
So it’s not surprising that I wanted to refresh my knowledge of how white light passes through a prism to display the seven colours. What I hadn’t expected was to find a scientific paper on language and the ability to see different colours; “people whose language has fewer colour words seeing fewer discrete colour bands.”
This reminded me of my article “Words Matter”. The words we use are generative not simply descriptive. Hence it matters how we choose our words and the words we choose. They open up or close down opportunities for ourselves and others.
Are there words that you find inspire you to different ways of thinking and behaving?
What words cause you to retreat from possibilities?
I invite you to have a conversation with me about how your use of words and language assist you to engage your team members. Send me a note sylvana@sylvanacaloni.com or call me +44 (0) 79520 68133 and we can arrange a time.
