Dr. Ruth Oji
Why vague language undermines your authority—and what to do about it
Imagine a senior manager presenting quarterly results to the executive team. Her data are solid, and her analysis is sound. But every few sentences, she says something like: “We had some problems with vendor compliance, and people were not happy about the delays.”
Later, over coffee, a colleague would say what everyone else felt: “She sounded uncertain. Like she wasn’t in control of the situation.” The manager wasn’t uncertain.
She knew her material cold. But her word choices—”had some problems,” “people were not happy”—made her sound passive, vague, and tentative. She’d undermined her own authority without realising it.
