Y'all vs. We


 Y'all vs. We


When you enter a new facility, the first word you reach for tells the room something important.

"How do y'all do this here?"
Yall. The room hears: You don't see yourself as part of our team.

"How do we do this?"
We. The room hears: You're already one of us.

The word you choose tells the room where you've already placed yourself.

Choose the word that puts you on the team.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knowing the Standard Isn't Knowing Why

Image
  Knowing the Standard Isn't Knowing Why You can recite every standard by heart and still not understand what it's protecting. The people who memorized the rulebook and the people who understand the reasoning behind it look identical right up until something happens that doesn't fit the script. One adapts. One freezes. Knowing the standard tells you what to do. Knowing why tells you what to do when the standard doesn't cover the situation in front of you.  The most valuable person in the room isn't the one who knows the most rules. It's the one who understands what the rules were trying to prevent.  Has a standard ever saved you from something the textbook didn't cover?
Read more

Afraid someone will be threatened by what you bring, or that you're just too qualified for the role.

Image
 Afraid someone will be threatened by what you bring, or that you're just too qualified for the role. You thought about taking credentials off your resume to get yourself through the door. You worked hard for what you have, and it shows. Present yourself as you are and be proud of what you've accomplished. You're not overqualified, and if someone feels threatened by what you bring, they were never going to let you in anyway.  Shrinking yourself doesn't open doors; it just makes you easier to overlook. The person you want to work for sees your credentials and says, "I want this person on my team." What credentials have you been tempted to take off your resume?
Read more

Admitting a mistake doesn't make you look incompetent.

Image
  Admitting a mistake doesn't make you look incompetent. Most people won't own a mistake because they're scared. Scared of looking incompetent. Scared of losing credibility. Scared of losing their job. That fear is real. So they stay silent. They redirect. They blame the team, the timeline, the resources. They build a story where it was never their fault. And they put energy into performing like they're fixing someone else's mistake instead of their own. But owning a mistake doesn't erode trust. It builds it. People would rather work with someone who says, “This was me,” than someone who never admits anything. The one who never admits anything isn't protecting their reputation. They're destroying it. Accountability isn't about blame. It's about saying, “This is mine,” when things go wrong, not just when they go right. Own it. Learn from it. Don't repeat it.
Read more