Josh's Weekly Insights - October 29, 2026

“It’s a lot easier to do good work when you have good words to say and work with good people.”

-Mark Harmon

Today was an incredible day in class. The last two days were my first travel training since a recent surgery and man did I miss teaching in person. So, what made it incredible? I was working with the always fantastic Sara Whitney, M.Ed. and some amazing Massachusetts bankers. The group was passionate about leadership and hungry to continue growing.

We spent a lot of time talking about word choice over the last couple of days. This concept was reinforced on my ride to the airport as I heard a commercial for a “prediction market.” Does anyone know what a prediction market is? Have you ever heard the story of little red riding hood? A prediction market is what you get when gambling tries to dress itself up as grandma. Gambling has a bad reputation, so it is trying to clean its image up by saying it is no different than market trading. And hey, with prediction markets you aren’t just limited to betting on companies, you can bet on anything!

Now, the reason I bring this up is because it is important to understand the difference between what I teach and what they are doing. When I teach being thoughtful about your words and thinking about how they will impact the recipient, it is because coaching and leading other people is hard enough with the right words but can be catastrophic with the wrong ones. We do it because we care about the other person and want to help them succeed, not to be manipulative.

Using words like “prediction markets” instead of gambling on the other hand is a purely self-interested tactic. If it wasn’t, why does every one of those commercials end with advice to call a hotline when you become addicted to gambling?

As a leader and human being who wants to see more good in the world, please be cautious about how you choose your words. However, don’t be a wolf dressing up as grandma. Instead honor others by caring about them enough to be honest, even when honesty hurts and use those words for good.

Now get out there and crush your week!

And thank you to my incredible team as well! Christie Drexler and Stacey Burke, I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you so much for being the best!!!