Great leaders have the ability to cast vision and inspire people to make changes to accomplish incredible things together. We however have to be careful that we do not use hype instead of reality. If everything requires too much “greatest ever” language, then when the time comes to make major change people will not hear you. This post by Scott Cochrane is excellent:
“As a leader you must certainly project optimism. But when you cross the line into hyperbole, your leadership is facing significant risks.
Recently, a leader in my orbit described a meeting as “Quite possibly our best meeting ever!” Right away, the thought flashed through my mind, “I need to keep watching my own communication for any signs of such exaggeration.” How many of these statements, or statements like them, have you used?”