3 Odd Ways Improving Your Writing Will Change Your Leadership!

One of the tools I use as a leader to help my team achieve goals is the written word. The quality of your written communication as a leader can make all the difference! Writing is a way to bring ideas to life in a helpful manner that others can understand; it forces us to be clear and precise.

Improving your writing ensures your messages are clear, concise, and persuasive, making you a professional, credible, and accountable leader or manager. This changes your leadership by supporting employee performance, improving brand image, and increasing business productivity.

In this post, leaders and managers will find a brief but detailed account of the importance of written communication and practical writing skills in leadership.

What is really the importance of language in small team leadership?

Consequences of Ineffective Writing

One of the worst mistakes leaders can make in written communication is being vague and unconvincing. As Kara Blackburn (managerial communication lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management) writes in the Harvard Business Review, no one will hear your ideas if you can’t communicate them, regardless of the quality of those ideas.

In addition, ineffective writing can cause you to lose your credibility. If you make simple grammatical mistakes, for example, it may indicate a lack of skill/unwillingness to improve your weaknesses. You cannot effectively lead your team if you don’t have credibility.

My spelling sucks, and my native language is Swedish, so if someone wishes we don’t judge others by their spelling and grammar, it is me. But I understand these are the game’s rules, so I learn to adapt.

Finally, ineffective business writing can threaten your company’s bottom line. A Grammarly “State of Business Communication” report found that poor communication costs the US $1.2 trillion in losses annually. 

Ways Improving Your Writing Will Change Your Leadership

Emails, agendas, circulars, reports, manuals, memos, and bulletins are all communication mediums that managers deliver through writing. If all of these are well-crafted, they can have the following benefits.

1. Increased Employee Performance and Business Productivity

Why Are Writing Skills Important for Managers?

Effective writing skills are essential for managers because they facilitate clear and concise communication about company goals, strategies, vision, and mission. Their team members will be less likely to misinterpret the message, so they can perform their roles accordingly.

For example, if a memo is easy-to-understand and concise, employees can save time that they would otherwise waste trying to decode unclear messages or seeking clarification. Additionally, good writing skills convey a sense of security, professionalism, and excellence if the manager is in a customer-facing role. 

Strong writing skills are synonymous with effective business communication and lead to increased employee performance and productivity.

It is also worth noting that skilled writers can choose words to engage their readers emotionally; this is an awe-inspiring skill that I would like to master!

2. Improved Brand Image and Leadership Credibility

The strength of a brand is directly related to how stakeholders perceive it, often via the written word. If, for example, an executive marketing manager cannot articulate what makes a brand special, the people under them won’t be able to do so either.

Similarly, consumers will need clarification about what sets a brand apart from its competitors if messages about it are poorly delivered. Consequently, they’ll hesitate to purchase or recommend products under that brand to others.

Confused prospects don’t hit the buy button!

If done well, written communication about a brand can strengthen and affirm the quality of your leadership by:

• Creating an excellent and consistent image of a brand.
• Increasing customer loyalty.
• Reducing employee turnover.
• Attracting bright talent to your company.

3. Enhance Leaders’ Accountability and Performance

Studies have shown that there’s a direct link between accountability and performance. Leaders and managers with high levels of responsibility are more likely to perform better.

Effective writing can support accountability and performance among managers and leaders because it creates detailed, accurate documentation that can be consulted in the future to support decisions, strategies, and outcomes.

For example, a paper about a proposed marketing strategy can guide employees when executing campaigns about a brand over a long period.

Likewise, managers and leaders can use written communication as evidence to support arguments favoring promotion, salary increases, or legal defenses.

Why Is Written Communication Important in Leadership?

Written communication is essential in leadership because it is the best tool for a leader to articulate their ideas clearly. This allows for constructive critique, which in turn, further improves the vision.

As such, good written communication can inspire trust in the leader and facilitate the effective execution of company goals.

How To Improve Your Writing Skills as a Leader

Fortunately, leaders and managers can improve their writing skills by adopting certain practices. These include:

• Think before you write. Clear writing follows clear thinking. Thinking through ideas separates the clear from the vague and the important from the unnecessary. You don’t have to get your written message right the first time, but you should know enough to edit out any fluff from your content before you let others read it.
• Read a lot. A good reader makes a good writer. Reading exposes you to many paragraph and sentence structures, vocabulary, writing tone, and grammar rules such as punctuation. You can incorporate sound writing principles into your written communication by understanding what good writing looks like.   
•  Listen to feedback. Listening to feedback from your team can help you address communication missteps. If your team members often ask, “What did you mean?” and follow that with, “I thought you meant…” it indicates you need to improve your writing skills.
• Think of the receiver when writing. Good leaders don’t only write for themselves. They pay attention to the diverse communication styles of their team or audience and tailor their message accordingly.
• Stick to the point. You’re not required to write like a Nobel Prize for Literature awardee in business writing. You only need to ensure that your writing is clear and that every word you put down is essential. 
• Practice, practice, practice. Writing is a skill that takes time to develop. Practice writing whenever you can. The more you practice, the more likely you can improve your skills. Of course, you should always be mindful of how you write so you’ll know exactly your areas of improvement. 
• Enroll in a writing course. The philosopher Socrates once said: “I know nothing.” Good leaders adopt the attitude of perpetual learners who know that there’s still something they can learn beyond what they already know. Enrolling in a writing course can significantly improve the weakest aspect of your written communication. 

Here’s a quick video discussing tips on how you can improve your writing and how it plays an important role in business communication.