Can you guarantee the water is safe?’ Six words. And most leaders freeze.
You can’t guarantee it. You know you can’t. Your lawyer knows you can’t. The journalist asking knows you can’t. So you hedge: ‘Well, we believe the water should be safe…’ And you just made the front page — in the worst way.
Here’s what nobody teaches you about the word ‘guarantee’: people don’t actually need one. They need to hear one. There’s a difference.
Watch what happens when you borrow the word rather than dodge it:
‘I can guarantee you that every resource we have is focused on making sure this water is safe.’
‘I guarantee we will not rest until we have answers for this community.’
You didn’t promise the water is safe. You didn’t lie. You didn’t overcommit. But you gave people the word their brain was desperate to hear, and you attached it to something you can actually deliver — effort, urgency, accountability.
Compare that to the hedge. ‘We believe it should be safe’ sounds like you’re already building yourself an exit. It signals that you’re thinking about your own legal exposure, not about the people in front of you. That is exactly what crowds hear, and exactly what they remember.
‘I guarantee we’re doing everything in our power’ sounds like leadership. Same facts, completely different outcome.
The technique works in any high-stakes communication situation. When someone asks you to guarantee something you can’t, don’t dodge the word. Borrow it. Attach it to what you can absolutely commit to — your effort, your values, your next steps — and you’ve answered the question without making a promise you can’t keep.