"We hire two kinds of people – hunters and skinners. Hunters bring in the kill and skinners turn the kill into food."

This was the recruiting language used by so-called headhunters in big management consulting firms in the '90s when I got out of grad school and was exploring consulting careers (I ended up starting my own firm).

Now, it's 30 years later and people in business still routinely use violent and predatory metaphors, often without even thinking about it: Crush the competition, capture customers, exploit the market, make battle plans – it's all over the place.

• Do you believe business needs to be warlike?
• Is using violence-laden, predatory and warlike language in your work OK with you?
• Are you willing to replace it with more compassionate and caring words – even if you get pushback?

Predatory language in business promotes a bizarrely warlike relationship such that the organization "wins" when its customers are overpowered, dominated and beaten. And it diminishes us and our companies; it hardens our hearts.

My goal with the love-powered Amare Way is to radically change that dynamic by inviting every leader at every level to consciously choose their words and recognize their impact. Some examples from SSM Health, a large Catholic health care system:

Capturing markets – – – Securing markets 

Target audiences – – – Intended audiences

Take a stab at it – – – Give it a try

4 Simple Steps to Transform the Language of Business 

1. Start by noticing your language. Pay attention to the words you and your colleagues use, with whom and under what conditions.
   Keep count of violence-laden words for a week. Notice too how you react when you use or hear others use fighting and predatory language at work.
2. Develop replacements for 10 violent phrases. First list 10 words or phrases with predatory or warlike connotations that are often used in your organization. Now do a heart-storming session with your team and come up with alternatives.
3. Make policies for better language. Establish formal communication policies that ban language that connotes violence and provide replacement words. Make clear the connection between these policies and your company culture, values and purpose.
4. Empower yourself by learning more. Read this free six-pager from Chapter 4 of my book A Short in the Hardwiring: How We've Adopted a Business as War Mentality. Do the self-assessment to rate your language. Get inspired by the SSM Health story too.

Your words, thoughts and actions are all connected. Making little changes in the language you use can snowball into a powerful transformation toward love-powered business and leadership. What a lovely way to start this new year.

Inc