Levels of Leadership — Idioms

Today a Leadership lesson at two levels around the use of Idioms.

Level One: Leaders, avoid USING clichéd idioms.

Cliché :

“a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.”

Idiom:

“a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words”

“a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group of people.”

Level Two: Leaders, avoid BEING clichéd and losing your “idios”.

Level one feels easy, yes? Level two though? What is Tom talking about?

First, if we look at the definitions above, we can see that there are two elements to both cliches and idioms, both the frequency of use of the phrase or words, but also the originality of them and their origin.

In short, be original, be yourself.

Looking into the Greek roots of the word idiom, we can see that at a core part of being idiomatic rather than cliched is in being distinct, unique, set apart.

“Greek idioma “peculiarity, peculiar phraseology” (Fowler writes that “A manifestation of the peculiar” is “the closest possible translation of the Greek word”), from idioumai “to appropriate to oneself,” from idios “personal, private,” properly “particular to oneself.”