In researching my job interview presentation last year, I quickly picked up that language was a really important part of the strengths-based model of Local Area Coordination.\u00a0 I also noted that in some of the stuff I\u2019d been reading the term was abbreviated to LAC.\u00a0 When you read \u2018LAC\u2019 it sounds like \u2018lack\u2019 which obviously means a deficiency or an absence of strength.<\/p>\n
At the time of my interview preparation I was leading projects which included young people who had left care or who were in the process of doing so.\u00a0 I was aware that sometimes young people leaving care were referred to as \u2018LAC\u2019s\u2019 by those tasked with helping them.\u00a0 This really jarred with me and I always found it upsetting.\u00a0 The term \u2018NEETs\u2019 \u2013 young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training \u2013 was another one that always got to me.\u00a0 I find this term particularly challenging.\u00a0 NEET sounds like \u2018neat\u2019 meaning tidy or well-ordered, and in American-English, another word for \u2018great\u2019.\u00a0 From what I witnessed there was rarely anything neat about the relentless struggle of accessing the resources required to flourish in a world of ever reducing opportunity.<\/p>\n
Could it be that referring to a person on the cusp of their adult life as a \u2018LAC\u2019 or a \u2018NEET\u2019 is symbolic of that individual being lost in a troubled and struggling system? Or are they just simple abbreviations that help speed up pressurised working?\u00a0 For me, whilst I understand there is a rationale, these terms seem all too often present in a process of defining people by what is missing in their lives.\u00a0\u00a0 I do wonder how this can be a good thing.<\/p>\n
Anyway, needless to say this was something that was on my mind as I headed in to the offices of Community Catalysts for my job interview.\u00a0 Like most job interviews the presentation I had to do was strictly time bound, so I asked Sian the CEO of Community Catalysts before I started how she felt about Local Area Coordination being abbreviated to LAC (sounding like lack)?\u00a0 As expected, she felt strongly that it was not a good abbreviation to use.\u00a0 I am glad she held the line on this although it did rather put the timing of my presentation at risk. In the end I think I still managed to stick to time\u2026I just had to talk faster.<\/p>\n
A commitment to using positive language and avoiding labels where we see problems helps us to drive conversations away from what is missing and towards what is abundant.\u00a0\u00a0 Where properly used language is a tool that helps empower people to take back control of their lives, strengthens community and massively affects systems for the better.\u00a0 It is important that we remember the power our words have and challenge each other in a positive way when we fall short.<\/p>\n
For those engaged in Local Area Coordination, it may take me a bit more time to say the term in its fullness (or even just to say the letters L-A-C), but I think it is worth the effort in the long run as what is LACking in people is very much the opposite of what we\u2019re all about.<\/p>","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nick talks about his job interview and the importance of language withing Local Area Coordination and Community Catalysts.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":1196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"