Learning the Language of Leadership: A Proposed Agenda for Leader Training

Abstract

This paper proposes a training/research agenda for teaching leaders strategic language. Strategic language is defined by motivating language theory (Sullivan, 1988) as leader-to-subordinate oral communication that increases the likelihood of such desirable worker outcomes as high performance levels and job satisfaction. Motivating language has been further specified as appropriate use of the following speech act categories: 1) Direction-Giving, 2) Empathetic, and 3) Meaning-Making. Motivating language theory and its predictions have received strong support from previous research, including scale development and model testing. The proposed next step is implementation through organizational diagnosis and training programs.