Why you need to stop saying ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’

Ditch the 'drinking the Kool-Aid' speak.

While you may colloquially think it means you've really 'bought in' to something, its origin is sinister at best. The phrase comes from when Jim Jones, a cult leader in Jonestown in the 70s, laced a grape-flavoured drink with cyanide where close to 1,000 people died, including over 300 children. It's a tragic story of blind faith and manipulation.

I constantly hear it in corporate settings, especially from senior leaders which is particularly ill-advised.

Scratch it from your vocabulary. It's neither a good look nor a good metaphor.