Last week I stood in front of a room of real estate agents and asked them to stop using a phrase.
Not a bad phrase. A popular one. In my industry, it’s been repeated so often over the last few years that it practically comes with a jingle: marry the house, date the rate.
The idea was simple. Buy the home you love now, and refinance later when rates come down. It sounded smart. It sounded hopeful. And for a lot of people, the “later” never really came.
Nobody in that room had bad intentions. They were saying what everyone else was saying. That’s exactly what I want to talk about.
Borrowed Language Spreads Fast
Phrases spread because they’re easy. Someone says one on a stage, it lands, and within a year every professional in the space is repeating it. Very few people stop to ask whether it’s still true. We’re too busy agreeing.
Every industry has these. We’re like a family here. The customer is always right. Work smarter, not harder. They feel safe to say because everyone else says them.
That’s the problem.
When Everyone Says It, Nobody Hears It
A phrase that everyone uses stops carrying information. It turns into background noise. The people you serve and the people you lead have likely heard it from several other people this month. When you say it too, you don’t sound wise. You sound interchangeable.
Worse, borrowed language lets us skip the thinking. A catchy line can stand in for the harder conversation, the one that asks, “What happens if this doesn’t go the way we hope?” That harder conversation is the one that actually builds trust.
A Plan or a Hope?
Here’s the test I use now. Before I give someone advice, I ask myself one question: is this a plan, or is this a hope?
A plan holds up even if things don’t break your way. A hope only works if they do.
The people who trust you are making real decisions based on what you tell them. They deserve the plan, not the slogan.
What Different Actually Looks Like
Being different doesn’t mean being contrarian for attention. In my experience, it looks like this:
- Say what you’ve actually seen, not what’s being repeated.
- Show the math, the evidence, or the story behind your advice.
- Name the downside out loud, before someone else has to.
- Retire a phrase the moment it stops being true, even if it’s still popular.
That kind of different stands out because it’s rare. And in a world full of borrowed language, rare is what people remember and trust.
A Question for Leaders
What’s the phrase your team repeats that nobody has questioned in a while? Maybe it’s in your sales conversations. Maybe it’s on the wall in the break room. Maybe it’s something you say yourself.
It might still be true. But it’s worth checking, because the people listening to you deserve something real.
Bring This Conversation to Your Team
I speak with teams and organizations about leadership, trust, and performance, including how the words we use shape the trust we earn. If this is a conversation your team needs, visit CreedSpeaks.com and let’s talk.