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Why Effective Writing Skills Should Be Part of Any Leadership Development Program — Photo from Pexels.com

Communication skills consistently rank among the top three strengths behind successful leaders. Leaders communicate to inspire, to partner, to produce, and to manage. Workplace culture and communication are also foundational to employee engagement, a fact whose import rises when we learn engaged employees are 21% more productive than less-engaged employees. And the top three drivers of the recent employee retention crisis center around communication too: many of our frustrations with less successful bosses are actually reactions to their lack of communication skills.

But in today’s workforce, where 50% of us will work remotely within the next decade, communicating interpersonally isn’t always feasible. Spoken communication often takes a back seat in favor of emails, messaging, and the discussion features of organizational apps and platforms. And yet, while we often talk about communication in leadership, we too often leave writing out of the picture.

Though we often talk about communication in leadership, and provide communication training in LDPs, we too often leave writing out of the picture.

Recent court cases teach us about the permanence of written communication. When something is written down, you may literally be able to take it to the bank, as managers learned in a recent lawsuit when their employees won their long-overdue overtime pay. Written communication also lasts longer, and reaches more people, than verbal communication.

We’re remiss, then, when we train our emerging leaders to manage well and to speak well but don’t offer them the support in how to write well. Writing anxiety is an authentic issue and huge obstacle for many the well-intentioned leader; in fact, the syndrome may explain up to 50% of the graduate students who drop out mid-dissertation. Emerging leaders in the workforce experience this too, and a lack of confidence about writing can feel paralytic for those just developing their skills at communicating as a leader.

Communication Matters

Communication fails matter when they’re committed by leaders. Leaders’ communiques typically reach more people than do those of staff members, and besides, what’s the point in having a leader’s mind full of integrity and innovation when your team will never get the chance to discover those thoughts? Communication, written or verbal, serves as the vehicle by which leaders get their messages to their teams, and so is crucial in managing and inspiring those teams.

We also know that the way conversations are done – the ways words are delivered – affects the listener on a neurochemical level. Positive conversations motivate the collaborative centers of the mind, while unideal outbursts that alienate or intimidate listeners or readers create more obstacles to successful team work because they elicit defense mechanisms and can lead to a constrained fight-flight-flee set of options. Beyond morale, mood even affects decision-making, so if conversations affect mood, we can imagine the domino effect from there.

Written Communication Ups the Ante

As crucial as interpersonal, spoken communication is to team morale and success, written communication further ups the ante through its tenacity. Overall, written communication, in comparison to verbal communication:

lasts longer
gets received more than once (gets read and reread)
gets shared more (a click on “forward” is even quicker than gossip!)
keeps – or fails to keep – everyone in-the-know, regardless of location, timing, or absence
supports one’s claims with evidence, and creates a record of communicated information
supports – or fails to support – the needs of remote workers

Writing Skills Leaders Need

We all do better when we believe in the mission of our work, and studies show employees are more engaged and productive when they support both the mission of their organizations and of their leaders. Leaders, then, must learn to take the reins communication-wise, and ensure their writing reflects company values while also seeking to inform or persuade, as the situation requires. Successful leaders write effectively to inform, to include, to motivate, and to innovate.

Writing to Inform: Leaders need to keep people informed, and in a timely manner. Remote workers identified a lack of information from leaders as the number one obstacle to their own productivity. Thus, LDPs should include training on how to write clearly and concisely in order to inform others.

Writing to Include: While 71% of managers reported feeling informed about company goings-on, only 40% of remote workers agreed. Leaders are also up against their own unconscious biases: studies show applicants and employees who resemble managers often get hired and promoted at a higher rate, which undermines both inclusion and success. We know diverse teams perform better, so we should ensure our writing includes rather than excludes diverse schools of thought, approaches to problem-solving, and backgrounds and cultural norms.

Writing to Motivate: From formal annual reviews to daily emails and news blasts, leaders can make the mistake of writing in a way that demotivates or alienates employees, or they can write in a way that gets people energized and engaged. Write to motivate, and to encourage growth. We know a growth mindset predicts success, so encourage this mindset in your team through the way you express your views to them. Leaders should develop writing skills that leave readers inspired and engaged. This often comes down to word choice, tone, purpose, and an understanding of one's audience - all skills that can be taught. This means that even if emerging leaders don't feel confident in their writing at first, they can develop their skills instead of assuming writing is best left to those with a muse.

Writing to Innovate: Managers consistently come face-to-face with a desire for their team members to take more initiative. But what if employees don’t feel confident they can take risks without reprisals? Or what if their engagement level is too low to voluntarily take on new challenges and solve new problems? Effectively-written communication from leaders sets a tone - both of trust and of expectation.

Like Like Celebrate Support Love Insightful Funny Comment Share 8 Comments Erin Lebacqz, graphic

Erin Lebacqz 6y

Thanks to everyone for their interest in, and support of, this article! As a follow-up, I've written Part I in a HOW-TO series on Leadership Writing. This first article focuses on Writing to Motivate, offering strategies to ensure your written communication motivates your team. I hope you'll find it helpful! https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-writing-part-i-motivate-erin-lebacqz/

Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions Ann Kiernan, graphic

Ann Kiernan 6y

So true! Bad writing often indicates sloppy thinking.

Like Reply 1 Reaction Erin Michael Ruscetti, graphic

Erin Michael Ruscetti 6y

Great article. I look forward to reading more of your work.

Like Reply 1 Reaction Dimitra Schreiber, graphic

Dimitra Schreiber 6y

Great piece, Erin!

Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions See more comments

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Communication Matters

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