Power-Oriented Linguistic Style Essay Example

All leaders in business aim to lead their organizations towards achieving the targets of the organization. The leader cannot motivate their subordinates if they do not have power and influence. Therefore, the use of a tone that commands power helps the leaders achieve the motivation they need to push for their ideas. The effectiveness of leadership is largely dependent on the ability to communicate and give directions. Power-oriented linguistic style refers to adding power to one's speaking style by speaking loudly, quickly, and inserting jokes and stories within sentences. The use of this tone increases the retention rate of the audience. The leaders make impacts on their minds and they can easily remember the ideas shared by the leaders. The other reason is that the level of competition in the world is higher today as compared to the years in the past. In the business world today, the leader needs to use a power-oriented linguistic style to ensure they share their ideas and motivate others to follow. 

Power-oriented linguistic style is an important part of being persuasive because it involves selecting the correct linguistic style, or a person's typical speaking pattern. Deborah Tannen defines linguistic style as “the amount of directness, pacing and pausing, word choice, and the use of communication devices such as jokes, figures of speech, anecdotes, questions, and apologies.” It leaves an impression on the minds of the listeners. Followers will be interested to listen and the communication will be more effective and this style of leadership doesn’t really show any downsides when leading others because of all of the positive outcomes it displays. The high performance that is required from this leadership can be achieved only if the business leaders are innovative and consistent in their leadership.The use of a power-oriented communication style contributes to the organizations' high spirit and performance. Leaders also have to deal with the changing culture and innovation in businesses, so by being flexible and taking charge in an effective way that can lead a group to success.

In addition, power-oriented linguistic style gives more power and authority to the message sender. When using this technique it can minimize the number of questions people ask that may imply lack of information on a certain topic. The amount of times someone says “I’m sorry” is minimized. Also, when a leader incorporates this style they tend to speak at length, set the agenda for a conversation, make jokes, and laugh. This is helpful because when they are ready to offer solutions to problems, as well as to suggest a program or plan, that tends to create a sense of confidence in listeners. Another way to communicate with inspiration and power is to use a power-oriented linguistic style. Supportive communication improves communication between two people and thus contributes to the effectiveness of leadership. There are distinct principles and characteristics to the process.

On the other hand, disregarding these suggestions for having a power-oriented linguistic style, there is no one best way to communicate. For example, formal authority in organizations is derived from one's position. But actual authority must be negotiated on a daily basis. Individual managers' effectiveness is determined in part by their ability to negotiate authority and whether others support or undermine their efforts. The way linguistic style reflects status plays a subtle role in classifying people. How people project their power and authority is often dependent on the people involved, the organizational culture, the relative rank of the speakers, and other situational factors. Many of the elements of a power-oriented linguistic style are included using heavy impact words. Nevertheless, there are several components of a linguistic style that would give power and authority to the message sender in many situations.

To conclude, power-oriented linguistic style means adding power to the style of talking by maintaining loudness, talking speedily, inserting jokes, and stories within sentences. It’s a successful way to create a positive impact on the way that followers think and listen to their leaders. People will be more willing to listen, and communication will be more effective. Everything that is said must be said in a specific tone of voice, at a specific rate of speed, and with a specific degree of loudness. Whereas people frequently consciously consider what to say before speaking, they rarely consider how to say it. Linguistic style is a set of culturally learned signals by which people not only communicate what they mean, but also interpret others’ meaning and evaluate the tone of voice that comes from other people. This is heavily relied on style when it comes to leadership and this helps leaders to communicate properly and lead appropriately.