Most executives or business leaders probably don’t dwell on their writing abilities. They have other things to worry about – sales growth, hiring good employees, handling customer complaints, making sure the company stays within its budget.
It’s understandable that s/he doesn’t think, “Dang, my writing is less than average and I really need to work on it.” They may not think that, but they should.
Writing is important for a leader. It is fundamental to clear communication, whether that is a message to employees or a memo to customers. If they don’t “get” your point, you fall a step behind rather than moving a step forward.
There are two ways business leadership can improve its writing/communications: 1) Have key executives take classes in writing that provide useful feedback and tools they can effectively use in their daily assignments. 2) Hire a good communicator who goes over your writing (or does it for you) and improves it. Neither is a perfect answer, and the choice of a company may depend on the budget or how significant writing is seen as important to the bottom line.
That’s often the struggle in getting commitment from organizations to focus on better communications – how to show the value of the written word. It’s always been a challenge for writers. All we can do is keep writing, and hope the big guns see what we do and recognize that the stronger their voice is, the stronger their position is, and the stronger the company becomes.
It’s understandable that s/he doesn’t think, “Dang, my writing is less than average and I really need to work on it.” They may not think that, but they should.
Writing is important for a leader. It is fundamental to clear communication, whether that is a message to employees or a memo to customers. If they don’t “get” your point, you fall a step behind rather than moving a step forward.
There are two ways business leadership can improve its writing/communications: 1) Have key executives take classes in writing that provide useful feedback and tools they can effectively use in their daily assignments. 2) Hire a good communicator who goes over your writing (or does it for you) and improves it. Neither is a perfect answer, and the choice of a company may depend on the budget or how significant writing is seen as important to the bottom line.
That’s often the struggle in getting commitment from organizations to focus on better communications – how to show the value of the written word. It’s always been a challenge for writers. All we can do is keep writing, and hope the big guns see what we do and recognize that the stronger their voice is, the stronger their position is, and the stronger the company becomes.
