YouThey

A lot of folks in leadership positions seem to start sentences/speeches/diatribes/soundbytes with a couple of key words:

"You.............." or "They.............."

In most cases both of those words put the hearers somewhat in defensive mode, from the git-go.  

With the "You" stem, it feels a little like there's a finger being pointed at us, like we're being accused of something, as if we're in for a good scolding, like we've done something wrong.

With "They," it feels as if we need to gear up for some fight against an evil entity deserving of our wrath/scorn/hatred, yet the pronoun doesn't even clearly tell us who we should fear or despise.  "They" is just the enemy (for this moment, or this speech), so get ready to wage war.  (Expect casualties.)

The leaders I most admire, and who seem to me the most worthy of my attention, use a lot of sentence stems with these words:

"We.............." or "Our.............."

Just feels a little more like we're being invited into something bigger than ourselves.