My wife told me a funny story yesterday about a conversation that our children (the triplets, not the newborn, she is not forming complete sentences quite yet) had with her and a neighbor. They were on an afternoon walk and passed by a neighbor’s house who happened to be outside with his new puppy. The conversation went something like this:

“Mommy, I wish we had a house like that.” (Not sure why this was said, our house is equally as nice as our neighbors, but you know kids, they will say the damnedest things). To this statement, my wife’s reply was something to the effect of “Oh, that’s OK, we have a nice house too.” Next comment (from next child in line, remember there are three, so one more coming) “Mommy, I wish we had a puppy like that.” My wife laughed a bit (since we have 2 dogs already, why in the world would we want another) and said “That’s OK, we have Blazie and Sadie.” Now what came next could have never been predicted, especially given the child that said it. She is known to throw out some doozies that just make you bust out and laugh. She looks at my wife and says “Mommy, I want a MAN like that.” My wife was a bit puzzled by that statement, and after a few seconds she realized that what she meant was that she wanted a Daddy like that. My wife then said “Your Daddy is a wonderful Daddy, and he loves you.” (I may be embellishing a little here, but I swear her retort was something to that effect, at least that is what my ears heard when she told me the story last night).

My children are at that age where they say what is on their mind, and do not fully grasp the concept of think before you speak, so you never know what is going to come out of their mouths.

The moral of the story is that kids can get away with this, it is almost expected of them. As adults, in the professional world, it is not that forgivable when we speak without thinking. As a leader, your words carry a lot of weight, after all if you are the CEO or any other CXO level you are speaking on behalf of the company, and a slip of the tongue can have a huge impact. So next time you are about to say something that could have a huge impact, think it through, because once it is said, it cannot be taken back. You can backtrack all you want, but once it is out there, if it was said improperly, it is there to stay.