The Power of Words

With appreciation to John C. Maxwell and his book Be a People Person, we find this great insight.

“The least important word: I.
“The most important word: We.
“The two most important words: Thank You.
“The three most important words: All is forgiven.
“The four most important words: What is your opinion?
“The five most important words: You did a good job.
“The six most important words: I want to know you better.

Let’s spend some time on these phrases.

I
Do people really care about what I think?

We
Denotes teamwork, companionship, joint effort, pulling together. Don’t you love it when your team says these things?
Look what we did!
What can we do?
Where will we be in the future?

Thank You
Sometimes this is the most under-used word in everyday conversations. We have the opportunity to say “Thank You” perhaps a dozen times every day. Do we?

All Is Forgiven
These are perhaps some of the most healing words one can hear.

Earnest Hemingway, in his short story The Capital of the World, tells the story about a father and his teenage son who lived in Spain. Their relationship became strained, shattered and the son ran away from home.

“Soon the father began a long journey in search of his son, finally putting an ad in the Madrid newspaper as a last resort. His son’s name was Paco, a very common name in Spain. The ad simply read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the Madrid newspaper office tomorrow at noon. All is forgiven. I love you.” As Hemingway writes, the next day at noon in front of the newspaper office there were 800 “Pacos” all seeking forgiveness.”

What Is Your Opinion?
This phrase speaks of openness and that you want to include others in forming opinions and policies.

You Did a Good Job!
Don’t you just love an appropriately placed word? There are few five-word phrases that work as effectively as “You did a good job!”

I Want to Know You Better.
We are social human beings. We form groups, join clubs, all with the purpose of expanding our social network. When I get to know you better, you enrich my life and hopefully I will add value to yours as well.

Well, there you have it. Six word phrases that make a difference in our relating to other human beings.

Come, let us sit

for a while

and become friends.