Vocabulary is how we communicate with one another. It's how we recognize competence; it's how we judge credibility. Yet every industry, every company, every project has its own jargon.

Newly transferred, newly promoted and newly hired executives start their assignment with extensive knowledge based on education and experience. And that knowledge and experience are invaluable. But they don't walk in with an intimate understanding of the business unit, its operations, its locations or its products — all represented by words that are precise.

Think about your first week on any new job or assignment. It will be as much about learning where the restrooms are located, what people do about coffee and lunch, and the first names of all your new colleagues as it will be dedicated to gathering information about the project, the challenges.

A significant part of the challenge is to quickly learn the internal vernacular. Some may choose to call it jargon or lingo or acronyms. But in reality, it is a form of verbal shorthand so people who work together can communicate quickly. That special language of your workplace must be learned, but it takes time.

How much time? Thought you'd never ask. It takes adults from 7-20 repetitions of a new word or phrase to make it a part of their vocabulary.

Ever wonder why reading lists of words and meanings doesn't seem to have an impact on your ability to use those words in writing and speaking? It's not enough to read a word 7-20 times on a list or a flashcard.

Remember back to high school — the memory might be one of using flash cards and memorizing. But it's highly likely that your classmates and friends were doing the same thing. And you were having conversations about those words — making light of them, being sarcastic, mocking the process and the lists as teenagers are likely to do. But all of that activity was more helpful than you realized.

The concept of multiple repetitions of a word or phrase requires that there be variety in the way that word is received by your brain. Reading, listening, writing and speaking are the four ways that language is processed by the brain.

A variety of pathways is needed to ensure a working understanding of that new term. Using the words and phrases in a variety of ways (reading in a memo, asking a question using the term, listening to the answer, being sarcastic) add insight to the concept, the meaning, the nuance and the usage.

What's really important to know if that, when faced with a word or phrase that is unknown, your brain reacts with one of two behaviors. It will ignore it or fill in with an incorrect meaning. Ouch.

So how do executives learn the needed vocabulary? By listening to people speak in meetings, reading memos and reports, asking questions at every opportunity and taking notes by hand.

By relaxing into the learning process and recognizing that some time will be required (weeks, not hours) to master the lingo, your first few weeks on the new job will prepare you to succeed. Your knowledge and experience combined with their lingo will prove to be powerful.