Leadership acronyms are present in every industry and every country. And the more speedy the world becomes, the more acronyms are created.
Acronyms are widely used while talking in instant messaging systems, like Webex, Slack, Skype for business, MS Teams, among others. It makes life easier and quicker.
The more experienced a leader is, the more acronyms they will have “collected” over the years. I still remember the first time, as an intern, when I asked what Y-o-Y meant. My mentor graciously smiled and said, “I will do something better than telling you.”
She then sent me an excel file with all the acronyms people collected in that business over the years. It had hundreds and hundreds of lines. I was so delighted. I updated that file and passed it on many times over my professional years in that company.
The Importance Of Leadership Acronyms
Acronyms are important for quick and easy communication and show your business acumen and your general operational understanding. One key thing is that you need to know what the acronym stands for and how to use it and why to use it.
Word Of Caution On Acronyms In General
It is extremely easy to alienate and make people feel excluded when using acronyms. You don’t want that. You want to be an inclusive leader, someone everyone looks up to. So make sure everyone in the room knows exactly what you are talking about.
It’s very common to have new employees who don’t know what specific acronyms mean. And they very often feel embarrassed to ask. Be proactive and tell your new members upfront that it is ok to ask about acronyms that were not understood.
In a recent company I worked with, they used the term T&E to refer to the line of profit and loss that specified travel and living expenses instead of the common T&L acronym. Just because you don’t know an acronym doesn’t mean you are stupid. Things may change from company to company or from industry to industry. As I said, knowing what an acronym stands for is important, but knowing how to use it and why is even more so.
So do not let people stand out (and feel awkward and excluded) if they show signs that they don’t know about a certain acronym. Acronyms are meant to be helpful, not to generate conflict or discomfort.
Main Leadership Acronyms You Need To Know
I decided to put together acronyms that are mostly used in business, regardless of position and department. These are the 67 most important acronyms to keep in mind when dealing with projects and teams internationally.
Of course, each department and company will have even more specific acronyms, but you can start off with this list and build it up. One great idea is to keep your personal list of the most used acronyms. In time, you won’t need it, but you can pass it on to your future mentees and team members to help them during the onboarding or company acclimation.
Another important thing to note is that certain countries will have translated versions of the acronyms, and if you are an expatriate or a visiting global executive, you might not recognize them due to that.
General Management
- LOB: Line of business
- SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
- APAC: Asia Pacific region
- EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa region
- LATAM: Latin America region
- NA: North America region
- ERP: Enterprise Resource Management (system)
- SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound
- SME: Subject matter expert
- TED: Tell me, explain to me, describe to me
- TL;DR: Too long, didn’t read
- TLTR: Too long to read
- WFH: Work from home
- OOO: Out of office
- NRN: No reply necessary
- ETA: Estimated time of arrival
- EOD: End of day
- BCP: Business Continuity Plan
- BOD: Board of Directors
- UTC: Coordinated Universal Time
Human Resources
- PTO: Paid time off
- HRIS: Human Resources Information System
- HCM: Human Capital Management
- FTE: Full-time employee
- PTE: Part-time employee
- EPM: Enterprise performance management
- DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- KPI: Key Performance Indicator
- KPM: Key Performance Measures
- KSA: Knowledge, Skills, or Abilities
- RIF: Reduction in Force
- T&D: Training and Development
- LMS: Learning management system
Procurement
- SCM: Supply Chain Management
- RFI: Request for information
- RFP: Request for proposal
- PO: Purchase order
- SaaS: Software as a service
- CaaS: Communication as a service
- TOS: Terms of service
- LSA: License & Service Agreement | Level Service Agreement
- DOA: Dead on arrival
- PPO: Preferred Provider Organization
- BATNA: Best alternative to a negotiated agreement
- BPA: Blanket purchase agreement
- POC: Point of contact
Finance
- YTD: Year to date
- MTD: month to date
- Y-o-Y: Year over year
- IPO: Initial public offering
- ROI: Return on investment
- P&L: Profit and loss
- T&L: Travel and living (expense line)
- NDA: Non-disclosure agreement
- M&A: Merger & Acquisition
- OI: Operating Income
- CAPEX: Capital Expenditure
- FOREX: Foreign Exchange
- EFT: Electronic Funds Transfer
Marketing & Business Development
- POI: Person of Interest
- AIDA: Attention, interest, desire, action
- SWOT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
- BD: Business development
- B2B: Business to business
- B2C: Business to consumer
- CRM: Customer Management System
- SEO: Search Engine Optimization
There you go, global leader! Now you are prepared to set global meetings up and work on international projects with the most used acronyms on hand. Print the list, share it with your co-workers and team members, or send it to your mentees! Whatever the case, make sure to keep these acronyms in the back of your mind to show all your expertise and business acumen!
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