Using leveraging, and leveraging using

Every now and then, when boredom threatens me, I like to scroll the cesspit that is LinkedIn. It’s a unique site to me in that it’s the only app which fails to accomplish any of the reasons for using it. At least with Youtube or Tiktok, you have the intent to be entertained, and then you entertain yourself by wasting hours doing nothing. Whilst scrolling through LinkedIn, I often come across a particular word, which I think is unique to corporate lingo: leverage. 

Let’s start with the dictionary on this one. There are two common senses of using “leverage” as a verb. The first sense is in using borrowed capital to make profits greater than the interest you’ll pay on said capital. In essence, when you want your money to make money, you leverage it. The other sense of using “leverage” is in using something to its maximal advantage. When you wish to say that you are using something in the best humanly possible way, you say you leverage it.

With these 2 definitions, it’s not hard to see why it’s so appealing in corporate circles. In an environment where profits matter more than your life expectancy, and the sole point of communication is to show off how amazing and competent your firm is at everything ever, leveraging a word which screams “best” is a no-brainer. Leveraging “leverage” maximises leverage!

The extent to which it appears in almost every other post makes one totally numb to the word. It becomes a noise; a blurb, which blends in with every other word around it into a blob of corporate nothing-speak. Here are some fun ways you can use it at home:

-  I leveraged my toothbrush to optimise tooth whiteness.

- Leveraging 5.18eur for 2 Pringles cans.

- Leveraging the Back-Scratcher-9000 to scratch my ass.

If anything, I feel like I can’t take a post seriously when it goes on about “leveraging your experiences to boost personal growth”. It feels purely theatrical; either it’s someone trying to reach the forefront of the rat race, or promising you to reach goals that’ll either blow your competition away or cure depression. We’re having “leverage this” and “leverage that” shoved in our feeds, but what’s in it for the workers? Your bosses and shareholders are probably happy, you being productive nets them a higher profit. You, on the other hand, might get enough of a raise to keep up with inflation, and perhaps a pizza party if you’re a very good little worker. 

Leverage your finite hours by getting proficient at this corporate fad which will be outdated in 6 months. Who needs to see their family or raise their children anyway? Everything has to be leverageable for something, heaven forbid letting things just be. I'm waiting to find a posting on the scale of “Here’s how you can leverage paranoid personality disorder for risk aversion!” but unironically.

Can we drop the act? Whenever millions of people come into work, and start up their Excels, Powerpoints, Notions, Teams, Visual Studios, or whatever else; can we not just “use” these things to get the job done and go home?

The views and opinions expressed above belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of DUB.