Tonight I spent the evening with Kristi helping her put together a document that, in a very small space, may help guide her and her career in the coming years. As we talked out the best way to concisely convey some fairly complex thoughts and feelings in a handful of sentences, the power of words and language really hit me.

There really are thousands of ways to say something and there are thousands of ways to interpret what someone says. Knowing how to effectively and clearly do both is a monumental skill, and one that I truly respect.

I am blessed to work with a phenomenal group of writers on a day-to-day basis. They navigate the pitfalls of language with seeming ease and saved our company from the traps of mediocre communication – an often-overlooked Achilles heel of today’s business.

Seth Godin, a writer who is known for delivering huge ideas in tiny written packages, pointed out something recently that reminded me of the great divide that one word could represent. His post, On becoming the, points to the drastic difference between being “a” something and being “the” something.

Here’s to being “the.”