What's a word for "ability to get work done"?
Asked by
skorned (
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August 25th, 2009
When you’re writing about a leader, and want to say in a word or two that he was efficient in getting work done, himself or by others, how do you say it?
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22 Answers
“Efficient” works for me. The synonyms (skillful, proficient, able, productive, cost-effective, stream-lined) imply having the skills but do not include the time factor
All good words ^^, but one can still be determined, productive, capable and slow, like the tortoise, who did win the race.
Effective and Productive. You can be getting lots of work done, but unless it’s meaninful work no one cares.
If it’s in the right context, I would think about using “rally”.
@frdelrosario: Are you sure about that? Our wonderful friend, Cak, is finally rallying after her recent difficult surgery. That implies improving or getting better medically.
@skorned is looking for a word to describe a leader who moved his co-workers to efficient effort. One definition of “rally” is “to bring together for common action or effort”.
Whichever word s/he chooses will depend on context and the tone of the phrase. Skorned has about 10 suggestions, all of which can be fed to a thesaurus, and some word somewhere will stand out as the one to use.
Does he inspire and motivate others while delivering at the highest level? Is he energetic, forceful, and driven? Does he exceed expectations and help others to outperform their own history of achievement? Is he a model of dedication and accomplishment, and do others eagerly follow his lead? Is he dynamic and supremely competent, an exemplar of the company’s core values, a star in a constellation of stars?
Better get the large-size plaque.
wow…@Jeruba, ur gonna become another obama one day…hundred different buzz words u’ve managed to fit in there.. but thanks…awesome speech
and lotsa good suggestions out there…@frdelrosario, rally doesn’t fit into this context. I wanna throw a few words at the audience. like : Integrity. Dedication. Effective. These are all skills a leader must possess…
and effective, efficient and productive are all close but don’t exactly catch the meaning of what I’m trying to say…and well, they’re not fancy enough :P
and I’m not sure about the meaning of gumption, @ABoyNamed… Different dictionaries gave me different meanings, ranging from courage to common sense, which when you think about it, are quite opposite most of the times…But could you tell me what it means according to you?
@skorned, I’ve been in the working world for a long time and listened to an awful lot of announcements of awards, promotions, thanks for service, etc., etc. I could have gone on and on. What’s hard is to say anything that sounds (a) fresh and (b) sincere. Good luck.
But…if you are not trying to praise a specific person but instead speaking about the qualities of a leader, that is a different thing altogether. In that case you must think about what it actually takes to inspire and motivate others. An interesting concept is that of the servant-leader. On the other hand, there is the view of Machiavelli, who wrote that a leader (a prince) will want to be both loved and feared, but if he cannot do both, then it is safer to be feared.
If you are trying to define the quality of leadership, you need more than a list of adjectives. You need to think about how true leaders transform the minds and actions of their followers.
If this is a homework assignment, I’m afraid that’s all the help we can give you.
@skorned When you praised Jeruba, and thought she might be the next (or another) Obama, i thought: why not say in your speech he’s Obamaesque?
Or is that just silly?
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