More “say this, not that”

Here are more phrases to use and phrases to lose…

Instead of saying, “Keep doing what you’re doing,” you can say:

“You’re doing great with X. Let’s give you an opportunity to stretch by giving you more chances to do Y.”

Instead of saying, “Was that clear?” you can say:

“Let’s do a quick review of the key takeaways to make sure I articulated it clearly.”

Instead of “Failure is not an option,” you can say…

“We’ll probably have to take some calculated risks. Mistakes will happen, so let’s make sure to learn from and continue to improve.”

Instead of, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions” you might try saying…

“To make this place better, we need to be aware of all the issues and obstacles, even if we don’t know how to solve them. We can figure it out together.”

All these statements focus on mutual objectives.