ThemeReputation & Presence
CardCard 29 of 66
Questions5 to explore

Language

The role language plays in your work

Language shapes not just how you communicate but how you are perceived, what opportunities open to you, and where you feel at home.

Language is one of the most powerful but least-examined tools in your professional kit. Which language you work in, how confidently you write and speak, whether you have an accent, what vocabulary you use: all of these affect how you come across, what rooms you can enter comfortably, and what friction you carry that others do not notice they are missing.

For people working in a second or third language, this is often front of mind. The cognitive load of working in a non-native tongue is real, and the way it can affect perceived competence is sometimes deeply unfair. For native speakers, it is easy to forget that fluency is an advantage, not a neutral starting point.

Language also evolves alongside your career. The way you write an email, how you speak in meetings, how you present your ideas in writing: these can all be worked on, and developing them deliberately is not pretentious. It is part of building a more capable professional self.

How to work on it

Practical ways to reflect on and develop this dimension of your working life. How it tends to look at different stages of a career, and where to put your attention.

Early career

Identify which language or communication skills are most valued in your field, and invest in them early. Writing clearly is rarely a disadvantage, and often a significant one.

Mid career

Notice whether any language-related friction is limiting your visibility or influence. This might mean formal language training, writing practice, or getting feedback on how you come across in meetings.

Multilingual contexts

If you work across languages, think about which ones open doors and which ones are undervalued. Being multilingual is an asset worth making visible, not just a logistical reality.

Questions to explore

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

What role does language play in your day-to-day work, and is there any friction there you have stopped noticing?
Are there situations where you feel your language skills hold you back, and what would it take to address that?
How do you feel about your written communication compared to your spoken communication, and is there a gap worth closing?
If you work in more than one language, how do you navigate that, and what advantages or disadvantages come with it?
What assumptions do people make about you based on how you speak or write, and are those assumptions accurate?

Things to notice

Treating language primarily as a technical skill misses how deeply it connects to identity and belonging: what feels like a communication problem is sometimes a belonging problem.
Native-language privilege is often invisible to those who have it, which means it can be easy to evaluate others' competence through a biased lens without realizing it.
Trying to erase an accent or adopt a style that does not feel genuine can cost more than it gains: authenticity in communication often carries more weight than polish.