Kaye Monty

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review addresses the question whether good leaders should swear.   I always drew the line between swearing socially and professionally.  My grandmother would have washed my mouth out with soap had I dared utter any profanities near her.  Hence I was always careful to only swear in front of friends and never ever in front of teachers, clients, co-workers or bosses.  I was what one would describe a “social swearer”.   I never realized how foul my language was until I met a boyfriend’s father who wanted to know why he was dating a young lady who cursed like a sailor.  (No offense to sailors.) Times have changed and people change.  Now, I am particularly sensitive to swearing considering that I have a toddler.  I do not want to be known as “the” parent who taught the other kids expletive laced phrases.  It is almost second nature to me now to tell friends to use the word “fun” instead of the f bomb.

I always thought that swearing in the workplace was off limits until I accepted a temp job in New York City.  I supported a marketing executive for a consumer package product for a week.  I blushed when I overheard her use colorful language to tell a colleague what she was going to someone who dared crossed her path.  I have not encountered anyone else who threw profanities in the workplace as casually as that former manager.  I think that there are many other ways to earn respect (or fear) from others that does not involve swearing.  Respecting others and treating them as human beings is certainly one of them.  I am a big fan of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.  It was first published in 1937 but its principles will never go out of favor.

An acquaintance was telling me that she was aghast at a senior executive who regularly used profanity as common.  While that may not be too shocking in certain industries,  she worked for a family oriented company.  I agree that there is a time and place for everything.  I do not think that many people would think twice for “annoyance swearing”  (cursing when a big heavy object falls and injures your foot or you lost a document that you have been working on for over an hour).  Cursing should be left at home.

What do you think?