[General] The best lesson

[Economist2010]

You might want to find a better word than "thing" for a professional LinkedIn bio.

Can I use "matter"

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

"The idea/concept/principle that I put into practice in my recent managerial roles and that paid off is that a good leader is one who empowers others, not one who abuses power or authority."

So the above is totally correct and I can use it?

You used thing incorrectly: "a great leader is one who empowers" is not a thing. It's not an object. It's an idea, a concept, a principle.

Great is an overstatement. Let others say you're great. It's enough to imply that you're good. Using great makes it sound like you're bragging. Don't.

Someone said the last part contains some errors. Is that correct?

Yes. It contains the errors I corrected.

Review the definitions of:

- thing
- idea
- concept
- principle
- good
- great

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Can I use "matter"?

No. See #22.

And add matter to the list of words to review.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I will post it on LinkedIn. Is it correct?

Not yet. See post #22.

End questions with question marks.

 

[Tarheel]

I have to disagree with Charlie on this one. The word "thing" refers to an idea, concept, principle or whatever in that sentence. And native speakers often use the word that way. (The word "thing" is a multipurpose word.) There might be a more elegant way to say it, but I think most people will hardly notice.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I have to disagree with Charlie on this one. The word "thing" refers to an idea, concept, principle or whatever in that sentence. And native speakers often use the word that way. (The word "thing" is a multipurpose word.) There might be a more elegant way to say it, but I think most people will hardly notice.

Fair enough! True, it often is correctly used for intangibles: freedom, friendship, and forgetfulness, for instance.

But in this example, I can't go along with it. It seems awkward and muddy and generally a poor word choice compared to the other words I suggested.

For what it's worth, it jumped out at me — obviously. One of the fun and frustrating things about learning a language is that different things mean different things to different people.