“If someone had tried to tell me thirty-five years ago that my effectiveness as a leader would often hinge on something as ‘inconsequential’ as word choice, I’d have rolled my eyes and written them off. ‘As long as I can convey an idea in general terms that everyone can understand,’ I would have said, ‘I’ll do just fine.’” “And I would’ve been dead wrong.” “The truth is, leaders rise and fall by the language they use. Sometimes whole visions live or die on the basis of the words the leader chooses for articulating that vision.” “When you put the right words to a vision or a principle, it becomes axiomatic. It begins to live! It becomes memorable and powerful. It becomes weight bearing, and eventually everyone around you champions it . . .” “The best leaders I know wrestle with words until they are able to communicate their big ideas in a way that captures the imagination, catalyzes action, and lifts spirits.”

(Bill Hybels, ax-i-om: Powerful Leadership Proverbs, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2008, 17)