Write to Become a Better leader — Benjamin Wann.com

Write to become a better leader

“Answers Are Closed Rooms, And Questions Aare Open Doors That Invite Us In.”

-Nancy Willard

“Tell less and ask more. Your advice is not as good As you think it is.”

-Claudia Altucher

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

When it comes to work, most people advance in their careers by staying in one or a handful of organizations and building on what they know or what they think they know. This leads us to often focus on the insular world of the organizations and people they’ve spent time with. As we spend years doing a task a certain way, we begin to think it is The Way.

However, closing our minds off to the outside world and ceasing to think critically, and let others lead us in a dangerous zone of all-knowing.

Yet, in the news, we cannot go a day without hearing how fast our world is changing, either due to technology, emerging trends, or other disruptive force. Stay in our current role, organization, or industry is an uncertain prospect. What worked yesterday or what we knew yesterday might no longer be good enough or work any longer.

To not just thrive but thrive in our fast-evolving world of work, we must also adapt and grow.

We need to open our ears, eyes, and minds to new ideas and perspectives. Then we need to meld in that new information with what we already know. This is where writing comes into play and becomes so important.

Writing makes us think by first putting our ideas on paper. When we can organize and articulate what we think, we become more informed, more knowledgeable and untangle the messiness in our minds to allow for clearer thinking. Consequently, the process makes us better leaders by building self-awareness, demonstrating leadership, and serving as a model for continuous learning.

1. Self-awareness

“Transformation comes from pursuing profound questions rather than seeking answers.”

-The Answer to How is Yes, Peter Block

Let’s begin with some hard data on self-awareness from HBR:

The article, “Working with People Who Aren’t Self-Aware,” points out that people who think they know, actually don’t know;

“Even though self-awareness — knowing who we are and how we’re seen — is important for job performance, career success, and leadership effectiveness, it’s in remarkably short supply in today’s workplace. In our nearly five-year research program on the subject, we’ve discovered that although 95% of people think they’re self-aware, only 10 to 15% actually are.”

Source: https://hbr.org/2018/10/working-with-people-who-arent-self-aware

Not that self-awareness is a new problem, but we must remember how serious and persistent the issue remains everywhere we look.

The antidote to self blindness, of course, is critical thinking. Writing, then, is the perfect exercise to explore and challenge your thoughts to strengthen and tone your critical thinking muscle. It helps you understand yourself better, as you get to see your ideas translate from a vague concept inside your head to words and phrases on a page. It forces you to externalize your inner monologue.

As Morgan Housel stated in an interview:

“Intuition is strong enough to put these ideas into practice. But intuition isn’t a tool; it’s a safety net at best, and is more often the fuel of biased decisions. Turning gut feelings into tools means understanding their origin, limits, and how they interact with other ideas. Which requires turning them into words. And writing is the best way to do that.”

Source: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/a-dead-simple-way-to-get-smarter-write-more.html

Writing kicks off a process of looking outside of what we know. We begin with the question, “What am I curious,” and eventually shape a collection of ideas into logical, syntax-conforming sentences.

Writing challenges our brain to explore by first seeking new knowledge through reading, observing, investigating, and pairing the new knowledge with our previous understanding of the world.

By the end of any writing exercise, we will have learned and challenged what we thought we knew. Then, we can articulate and share the new perspective with the world and those we work with. Writing turns into a cycle that allows us to get better and better with each iteration.

As we write, edit, read, and publish, we become more aware of how little we know. The requisite to writing is having something to say.

Even better, writing comes with the “edit” feature. We are allowed to be wrong and make mistakes and then go back and fix them as we learn more. When people profess ideas in public, they routinely dig in and double down for fear of looking silly if they are wrong.

Writing helps you sort through your knowledge, making you smarter. Writing combat self-awareness by developing new ways of using your mind:

• Thinking precisely and clearly
• Thinking about others (meeting the needs of your reader/audience)
• Develops awareness of logical progression of concepts
• It opens your creativity and capacity to imagine and envision

Writing things down forces you to clarify your thoughts into more concrete representations of what you think and know. It takes a lot of effort initially, but over time, it becomes more natural and easier. Often, on a second glance, ideas may be out of order or the arguments not as strong as we once believed.

Writing can also help you defragment unprocessed and broken links that were never effectively compartmentalized. It is an avenue where things in the subconscious mind can find a passageway to the conscious mind, resulting in further awareness or enlightenment. Writing is a great way to bring that implicit knowledge into the open, question, and codify it to be more useful to you.

*No kidding, I’ve been pronouncing and reading cavalry and calvary for years. Writing has revealed that they are not the same thing. I’ve also become much more aware of my local accent’s inclination to drop the “g” off words. Weddin, Hunting, Workin.”

2. Demonstrate Leadership

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

– James Humes, former presidential speechwriter

“Never use a long word where a short one will do.”

- George Orwell

To lead means to inspire others. It means bringing forth new ideas, setting direction, instilling best practices, and encouraging others to follow along on the journey.

To lead and to be a leader starts with thought leadership. Words are cheap. Anyone can say anything. But to lead with thoughts takes the perception of you and your capabilities to an entirely different level. More than some bold statement on the internet, words encapsulate your voice, beliefs, and value. They’re a reflection of who you are and the impact you have on the world.

Writing can help you become a better leader by better expressing yourself or express yourself in ways that you can’t do verbally. It can greatly increase self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-worth.

The written word is a powerful tool for uniting people and effecting change. Writing well allows you to clearly communicate ideas, connect with others personally, and establish your credibility — skills vital to leaders in all disciplines. The principles of good writing are more central to leadership than that; they reflect, even sharpen, the characteristics of a good leader.

Writing can serve to achieve short and long-term goals.

For example, if you are new to leadership and seeking a transformational role, writing can de-risk a potential employer’s decision. Most people are question marks when throughout the process, and organizations often base their process on behavior questions and asking about past and current experiences. However, what is usually not captured is an individual’s leadership beliefs. As cultural fit is so important to a good hiring fit, hiring managers often try and fill in as much information as possible through the interview process, often assuming and going by intuition.

Writing helps you to stand out, build your resume portfolio, and put any concerns aside by explicitly states your beliefs and reasoning. For some employers, you might not be for them. But for an even larger group, they will love you. Rather than having a “good feeling” about you, they will be able to support your hiring case with your own work. They can say, “Wow, Susie believes in working empowerment, decentralization, and technology to drive productivity and increase worker engagement. She’s the gal for us!”

Talk about adding ammunition to the fight.

Plus, when you publish, you enter the searchable world of Google. Your name is now tied to ideas, and there is no limit to the possible opportunities that can fall into your lap.

If you already have a leadership role within an organization, writing also helps to build confidence that leads to improved public speaking and performance in meetings and discussions. Instead of having to come up with ideas, words, and courage at the same time, you can rest assured that your ideas are already mature and logical.

In the HBR article, “Bad Writing Is Destroying Your Company’s Productivity,” the article points out that a lack of writing skills sabotages productivity.

“A 2016 survey in the Harvard Business Review found that out of 547 businesspeople, 81% said that poor writing wasted their time. Communications that ramble, lack focus, and don’t resolve questions turn conversations that should be two emails into twenty, and when the pattern repeats five, ten, fifteen times, the workday erodes with little accomplished.” -Source: https://hbr.org/2016/09/bad-writing-is-destroying-your-companys-productivity

By taking the lead and turning writing into a habit, you can demonstrate that great communication should be the norm. As you become more efficient, productive, and impactful, others will take notice and follow suit.

Although writing well doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’re suited to leadership roles, many great leaders are also great writers- the two share many similar skills. By brushing up on these skills, you’ll become both a better writer and a better leader.

Good writing is a sign of good leadership qualities, too. If you’re looking to move up the career ladder, writing every day will be key to this goal. If you practice writing and expressing your thoughts, then your writing at work will improve too. You’ll be able to express yourself more clearly and simplify the communication process. Your co-workers will find it easier to work with you, as they know what you need from them.

To rise above being perceived as an individual contributor or manager of the status quo to a true and recognized leader in an organization, start writing. Distinguish yourself and take the lead by going first. Leaders lead by setting the bar and standard high for communication.

3. Serve as a role model for continuous learning

When we write, we begin a cycle of learning that never ends.

As you dive into writing, reading, and researching and begin producing insightful and impactful thought pieces, you will become a role model.

In writing, one of my favorite ways of finding information is what I call “following the thread.” In a book or article that I’m reading, an author will often reference or quote another highly interesting and applicable source to my question at hand. I then pause my original read or take a note to follow the thread through a non-linear journey later to find the source, the author’s website and blog, and books and works that they have published. Here I have come across real goldmines of information that I can then learn from and share with others.

I have come across many niche and overlooked books packed full of amazing content and knowledge. Over time, my library of non-fiction business-related books has grown to more than 150 titles, and spans across the genres of business, strategy-execution, learning, originality, entrepreneurism, psychology, persuasion… and the list goes on.

By starting with an idea, I’ve kicked off a cycle of continuous learning where. And you can and should do the same thing. Once you find something interesting and worth sharing, you can communicate your learnings in group or individual discussions and encourage others to articulate their ideas on paper.

As you read more, learn more, and write more, you will get better over time. Just as you get stronger at the gym by first lifting small weights now and bigger ones later, the same goes for writing or any creative muscle. Writing for just a few minutes every day can build your discipline and skill to build a large influence over time.

To have your ideas taken seriously, you must perform research and not shoot from the hit and blast your untested notions into the world. Thought leadership articles that garner respect and influence must be based on a combination of factors, including:

1) Solid industry knowledge,

2) A grasp of current trends and events,

3) Deep insight and experience into a potential problem or challenge, and

4) Objective data, references, or compelling anecdotes.

They then must be skillfully woven together and written to tell a story.

As others observe your impact and influence grow, they are certain to ask for your secret. Please don’t be shy… share the power of growth through writing with all those around you.

Amazon’s Memo Approach to Meetings

“We are stubborn on the vision. We are flexible on details.”

-Jeff Bezos

Not convinced that writing is for you? What if I shared that writing is a critical ingredient to Amazon’s astronomical success over the year?

The Memo Approach to Amazon meetings dictates the rules for how meetings are organized and executed. Every meeting at Amazon begins the same way- all attendees spend the first twenty or thirty minutes of the meeting quietly reading a memo that has been prepared in advance by the organizer. The memo is written as a professional thesis on an idea or proposal, backed by supporting ideas and evidence. The act of preparing a memo is an important and thoughtful step in setting clear communication expectations. The views of the organizer must go through several iterations before their ideas are shared with others. By writing a professional thesis on a topic, an idea must be fully understood, contemplated, revised, and rewritten until each point and idea is crystal clear to all in attendance. The effect of putting a belief in the format resembles the process of placing a gemstone into a polishing device.

Bezos prizes the Memo Approach because “full sentences are harder to write. They have verbs. The paragraphs have topic sentences. There is no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking.” The memo approach works because it requires a higher level of communication, critical thinking, and answering the questions around Who Will Do What and By When beforehand.

Even more, at Amazon, the memo format is not an optional alternative to PowerPoint. Amazon has explicitly outlawed PowerPoint from the communication playbook, which is quite powerful since most organizations today run on slide-sharing software. The memo works as an antidote towards our inclination towards poor planning and execution.

To write a persuasive memo, the organizer must have a personal conviction around the idea and possess the discipline to assemble a well-thought-out dissertation. Before the meeting ever starts, the organizer has likely spent hours or days thinking through the idea’s various angles, arguments, and counterarguments to structure their ideas clearly to others. The basic premise is that it’s challenging to bullshit your way through this exercise. If you’re going to hold a meeting at Amazon, you will be sure that the idea merits yourself and other participants’ resources and energy. We’ve all been in a meeting where some big bag of air talks and talks with really nothing to say; that doesn’t happen at Amazon.

From “What Might Amazon’s Six-Page Narrative Structure Look like:”

[The six-page narratives are structured] like a dissertation defense:

1) The context or question
2) Approaches to answer the question — by whom, by which method, and their conclusions
3) How is your attempt at answering the question different or the same from previous approaches
4) Now what? What’s in it for the customer and the company? How does the answer to the question enable innovation on behalf of the customer?

The memo is a vital part of Amazon’s Ways of Working code.

For organizations looking to adopt a similar approach towards meeting, companies and teams don’t have to mirror the same rules and strategies that Amazon does to communicate effectively.

However, leaders must keep in mind that they must find a system that works to bring out the best in their unique culture and safeguards against ineffectiveness.

The Writing Process

“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”
-Picasso

There must be a process to write anything.

My process begins with an idea or observation. I’ll think about an idea for a while, maybe go for a long walk, and if it’s still strong enough and worth exploring,

I weigh an idea and consider my experiences and perspective with it. Then, once I’m convinced the idea is interesting, I organize and write down my thoughts under heading and categories. Whatever is too distant or abstract is cut. The remaining ideas are strengthened and reorganized.

The next step is to research what others have to say on the idea. I begin research by checking out HBR, Google, Quora, and various other sources to see the multiple viewpoints and perspectives of what I’m trying to articulate. I look for and read ideas that are critical and supportive of my viewpoint.

The next point is critical- I take a stand on an idea. I don’t waffle or stay neutral on an idea. I say either “I am for or against this idea, and here’s why.” I lay out my initial thoughts, supporting evidence, logic, and conclusion.

The benefit of exploring and crafting a writing process is that it is a framework for moving ideas forward as fast and thorough as possible. It is mentally beneficial to remove the idea from my subconscious and reach a conclusion. If I don’t put an idea on paper and work it through, it will remain in my head. Until I can release it, I can’t process other thoughts. Once an idea is out on paper, I can share my perspective with others and obtain more feedback. Through this process, I improve over time and grow in my thoughts and mental model.

As I write more and with better quality, ideas compound significantly. I use previous pieces and articles I’ve written to support new positions without restating the same ideas repeatedly.

The process of writing and research also allows you to leap miles over your original thought pattern. When you can’t think of the words, you can always borrow the patterns of others and then rephrase the idea in your own words.

How to get started with writing

The case for writing as a powerful thinking tool is appealing, but getting started can still be daunting.

First, how do you overcome your anxiety and start a writing habit?

You just need to start. Think of questions that you deal with frequently and challenges in your organization. Also, consider questions that you are innately curious and passionate about.

While brainstorming, it may also help to read through some sample prompts below or to look up different ones online to get your mind moving:

• What is your edge over competitors?
• How do you react to unforeseen risks?
• What have you changed your mind about recently?
• What part of your job are you not good at?
• What do you believe are the core aspects of performance?

Whatever you choose, decide and move forward. Don’t fret that you don’t have anything to write about. Begin writing to unearth your “phantom knowledge,” revealing both hidden strengths and (sometimes uncomfortably) hidden weaknesses.

Don’t worry about style, typos, or grammar in the first stage. Audiences are forgiving, and grammar-checking software like Grammarly works miracles assist with distilling ideas down to their most clear, concise, and impactful form.

Writing activities can help you with your communication in many different aspects of life. Many people out there feel like they can’t quite explain what’s going on in their minds. It’s not a lack of intelligence that inhibits them but a lack of practice and writing.

Practicing regular writing means help you find the right word to express your thoughts succinctly and powerfully. Writing and processing your thoughts means allows you to flesh out insights and discover new ones. Over time this becomes more natural and intuitive.

Practice often and explore different styles and topics to grow as a new writer.

Conclusion

By writing regularly, you’ll become a better leader in your area of expertise.

Not only will you improve your emails and elevator pitches, but you’ll connect more closely with leads and peers. You’ll also minimize misunderstandings and assumptions by communicating concisely. Best of all, consistent writing clarifies your purpose.

In essence, writing is critical thinking. Whether on paper, on a computer, or even when sending a text on your phone, it all counts. The more you write, the more layers of thought are peeled back to reveal deeper layers of knowledge and understanding.

Understanding builds and demonstrates leadership.

Originally published at https://benjaminwann.com on May 29, 2021.