Day 6 - LEARN Idioms with Master Vocabulary

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strive

verb
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Terms in this set (20)
strive

verb
To try very hard to do something or make something happen, especially for a long time, or against difficulties

1. An effective manager strives to listen to their staff.
2. The company strives to provide a great work place.
3. It is important to strive to achieve your goals.
4. Clients of the English Leadership Academy are striving to communicate naturally in English.
straightforward

adj
Easy to understand, clear and simple

1. The CEO is effective at explaining complex ideas in a straightforward way.
2. Being honest and straightforward with your staff is essential for a company leader.
3. The instructions for the new process are very straightforward.
4. You need a straightforward approach to solving most problems.
benchmark

noun
A point of reference from which measurements are made

1. It is important to create a benchmark of your skills at the onset of working with the English Leadership Academy.
2. The new report identifies the benchmark for the industry.
3. The iPhone instantly became a benchmark for cell phones when it was introduced.
4. The company set the benchmark for innovative ideas in their sector.
benchmark

verb
to measure the quality of something by comparing it with something else of an accepted standard

1. Being able to benchmark performance is very important for new companies.
2. Benchmarking plays an essential role in the improvement of any process.
3. The company continues to benchmark against the competition.
4. These items will be used for benchmarking the productivity performance.
target

noun
collocation
A result, level, or situation that an organization or group wants or plans to achieve

1. The CEO presented a financial target to the board of directors.
2. The company has set a number of targets this year that they hope to achieve.

Collocations (many more):
target date, target price, target forecast,
exceed a target, miss a target, set a target
economic targets, financial targets
target

verb
collocations
to direct something, especially advertising or a product, at a particular group of people or a particular area:

1. The company has targeted specific areas of manufacturing as priorities.
2. The marketing campaign is specifically targeting a different type of customer.

Collocations:
carefully target somebody or something
specifically target somebody or something
aggressively target somebody or something.
(to) aim to do (something)

phrasal verb
To plan or hope to achieve something

1. The CEO said they are aiming to do 15% more in revenue in the upcoming year.
2. The company is aiming to increase awareness of its new product line.
3. The human resource department aims to hire 20% more employees this year.
4. You are aiming to increase your business English confidence.
(to) buckle down

phrasal verb
It is time to be dedicated and motivated to start or finish a project or goal

1. After years of frustration communicating in English, the CEO knew it was time to buckle down and improve her executive business English.
2. The IT department buckled down and finished the project before the end of the year.
3. The VP of Marketing reminded the sales team that they needed to buckle down and increase sales 20%.
4. The English Leadership Academy expects its clients to buckle down and be motivated and committed.
(to) draw up (something)
(to) draw (something) up

phrasal verb
To prepare something in writing, especially plans, contracts or documents

1. The corporate attorney drew up the legal documents for the new transaction.
2. The company president requested the marketing department draw up a new marketing campaign.
3. If the first plan doesn't work, it is time to draw a better plan up.
4. She drew the contract up for the new client.
(to) resonate with (someone/something)

phrasal verb
To have a powerful quality or effect that you can relate to.

1. The presenter's message at the conference was powerful and it really resonated with me.
2. The company hopes its new marketing campaign will resonate with consumers.
3. The story of how it was difficult to achieve success resonates with many business professionals.
4. When you read about how difficult it is for other business professionals to become confident in English, usually their stories will resonate with you.
(to) stack up against (something/someone) phrasal verbComparing another thing of a similar type. 1. To try to get a new job using English, your new employer will compare how your business English skills stack up against the other job candidates. 2. Unfortunately, revenue this year didn't stack up well against the previous year's revenue. 3. How does the pricing of this new product stack up against our current pricing? 4. We only want to introduce new products that stack up favorably to existing products in the market.(to) start from scratch idiomFrom the beginning, without using anything that already exists 1. The company has no history using this technology, so the CEO gave direction to start a new program from scratch. 2. It is often necessary to start a project from scratch when past attempts have not succeeded. 3. Sometimes it is easier to start from scratch than to use information from a past project. 4. The English Leadership Academy recommends starting from scratch with a new mindset to build confidence.bang for the buck idiomReceiving more in value than the actual cost of something. A buck is $1.00usd. ie. $10 = 10 bucks 1. The company president decided to purchase the software platform because it gave more bang for the buck than the other platforms. 2. The company strives to give its customer the most bang for their buck. 3. When negotiating new deals, the CEO wants to get the biggest bang for the buck. 4. The English Leadership Academy strives to make certain that its clients receive great bang for their buck.(to) get off on the right foot idiomTo make a successful start with something/someone 1. The company president hopes that the new project will get off on the right foot. 2. It is really important to get off on the right foot with a new client. 3. The recent product launch really got off on the right foot. 4. When meeting your new colleagues, you should strive to get off on the right foot.(to) get off on the wrong foot idiomTo make an unsuccessful start with something/someone 1. Unfortunately, the VP got off on the wrong foot with the new client. 2. The recent product launch really got off on the wrong foot and the company made adjustments. 3. When meeting your new boss, you don't want to get off on the wrong foot.(to) have skin in the game idiomTo put something of value (usually money) into something (company/investment) 1. Studies have shown that a CEO will perform better when they have some skin in the game, by investing their personal money into the equity of the company, 2. You want to align yourself with good partners that have significant skin in the game. 3. Company executives make better decisions when they have some skin in the game. 4. You behave like an owner when you have meaningful skin in the game.(to) get the ball rolling idiomTo make something begin or happen 1. The company introduced the new sales plan and the marketing team got the ball rolling immediately. 2. It is time to get the ball rolling on your business English confidence. 3. The company is looking forward to getting the ball rolling on their new project next quarter. 4. Ok, let's start the meeting. Who wants to get the ball rolling?(to) know where (someone/something) stands idiomTo know what your situation is 1. At the beginning of working together, we will use innovative language tools to let you know where you stand with your business English. 2. The CEO must let its senior managers know where they stand. 3. It is important to know where your company stands in comparison to your competitors. 4. Do you know where your company stands in comparison to the industry?(to) learn the ropes idiomLearning how a specific job or task is done 1. As the company president, you hired a new Director of Marketing and she is learning the ropes during her first few weeks on the job. 2. It will take a few weeks for the new marketing assistant to learn the ropes. 3. The CEO is excited about leading the new company, but knows it will take some time to learn the ropes. 4. It is always important to remember that it will take some time for each new employee to learn the ropes.time is of the essence idiomYou should not wait or waste time before doing something important or urgent 1. The company president informed their corporate lawyer that time is of the essence to review the legal documents. 2. Time is of the essence to begin the new procedures. 3. Time is of the essence to make the necessary changes to make the company profitable. 4. Many of my clients feel that time is of the essence to communicate confidently in English!