VIM Executive Coaching has always been fascinated by language, and for an important reason. A vital requirement of business coaching must be to authentically listen. So, when a client recently explained that he liked the vibe of his new workspace, but two sentences later explained the vibe of a restaurant didn’t feel right, we were fascinated by the slang itself.
A Multi-Purpose Slang
“Slang,” defined (Merriam Webster Dictionary) is “an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech.” Slang might cover a multitude of applications of the same word.
“Vibes” may be presently seen to apply to most anything and we have appreciated that the word has been incorporated into names of restaurants and coffee shops, car repair businesses, fashion, music, artwork, décor, a sense of aesthetics and certainly expanded to personality traits, prayer, perception, physical looks, healing energy and most anything spiritual.
We would initially suppose someone saying they like the vibes of something is neither a good or bad thing, just imprecise. As with any form of slang, it is a moving target. Interesting about the word, of course, is that it is framed in terms of who says it, how it is applied and the context.
In a way, we come full circle. For, we have heard the term “gives off ‘good vibes,’” based solely on subjectivity and often pre-judgment.
We once had a coaching client who expressed that literally a week before his formal hiring, his soon-to-be supervisor consulted another supervisor who expressed that he “gave off bad vibes.” Ironically, the opinion was formed without a meeting. It was just an arbitrary feeling. The man did get hired, but almost from the outset he was told he was not fitting in to the corporate culture for a vague set of reasons.
The Vibe Problem
In reviewing online discussions of “Vibe,” it becomes clear, and quite quickly clear, that a “Vibe” can be a biased set of feelings and not concrete reasons. Unfortunately “Vibes,” are often the original reasons for opinions about things.
The diversity of online discussions on the definition of what constitutes “Vibe” often descend into disagreement and sometimes, downright anger (so much for good vibes!).
Why is this all so problematic, and why are we exploring the topic in terms of executive leadership? Leadership must come down to authenticity and a sense of honesty.
What role, we might ask, do “Vibes” play in executive leadership? There are some who vociferously argue that the whole topic of vibes (or feelings) comes down to intuition. Is that fair? Another question to ask is if this intuition stuff isn’t self-perpetuating?
The entire issue of workplace bias against (fill-in the group), could be one executive leader after another, department to department, forming an entire corporate system of false intuition.
A faulty feeling, a pre-determined feeling about the “Vibe” certain types of people give off, can be a dangerous path to define a corporate culture. The path becomes a sentiment that evolves to “You can just tell that they will give off a bad vibe, so let’s not hire them.”
Countering “Vibe” Stuff
Mindfulness counters “feelings.” Mindfulness is not reaction, but measured response. Unfortunately, “Vibes” often lead to a herd mentality. Going back to the example we gave earlier, how was it possible that a candidate in line for a position wasn’t liked before even being met?
We must point out the entire DEI discussion, where entire groups of people were often excluded due to pre-determined bias i.e., incorrect pre-judgment. This pre-judgment makes for faulty executive leadership but all too often, leads to “heavy,” immobile corporations that are unable to move forward.
Good leadership vibes should imply mindful, flexible and responsive leadership. Be mindful as an executive leader. Feelings don’t last, good performance and results do.