This overlooked skill will make you a more influential leader

Each leadership book and training program emphasize the same basic skills: emotional intelligence, vision, communication and decision making. But one critical skill rarely creates a list, though quietly, but directly determines how well the leader’s message is understood, made and remembered: writing.

Without writing in a literary sense – like creating a novel or research articles – but the kind of writing that organizations conduct. An e-mail that goes through ambiguity and goes straight to the point or inspiring, in addition to computer science throughout the company. The strategy document is so well organized that it eliminates the debate, explains the direction and creates entry before the start of the meeting.

This kind of writing is the spine of leadership in the world in which More than half of a typical working week It is spent on written communication – whether via e -mail, slack, reports, LinkedIn posts or formal presentations. However, despite the integral writing of roles in equalizing, implementing and shaping communication at every level of the organization, it stays an underestimated leadership skill.

Why leaders define writing as an essential skill and why this is a mistake

Writing is often rejected as something that every competent skilled should already know the right way to do it. However, the management are busy professionals who are continually pulled into a million suggestions, and many of them write the way they think: dispersed and disorganized. They create unnecessary confusion by writing the way they say as an alternative of how people read.

The cost of rejecting the effects of poor written communication is huge. Almost 9 out of 10 business leaders They experienced a negative impact of poor communication at work, no matter whether through increased costs (45%), omitted terms (39%), eroded brand fame (34%), or reduced performance (28%).

Good writing does not necessarily mean excellent grammar or eloquence, although it helps. More importantly, in writing, nevertheless, is precision: Saying exactly what to say, so few words as transparency allows, and doing it in a way that leaves no room for incorrect interpretation.

Leaders who write higher. Their teams do not waste time on the other hustle and bustle or the must proceed the instructions. Although so much leadership is about making the right decisions, more depends on the assurance that decisions are understood, accepted and made. It depends, much more than most individuals are aware of the power of the leader’s written communication.

How leaders can improve their writing

For people in managerial positions, effective writing means transparency, precision and influence. Here’s how leaders can avoid misunderstandings, speed up decisions and drive adaptation through written communication:

1. Pre-writite

The first step in improving writing is to enhance considering before starting. If the message is not in your mind, you are not able to spread it to the audience. Before preparing E -Mail, notes or notifications, determine the central points of what you need to speak:

• Who is my audience and what do they should know?

• What is the handiest structure to supply this information?

• What are the mandatory letters that I want a recipient to know?

• What motion or understanding should it create?

• What is the best communication channel for this message (E -Mail, Slack, SMS, verbal commentary, telephone call or video meeting) based on urgency and complexity?

When explaining the message before writing, make sure that communication is concentrated and free from ambiguity.

2. Keep it concise without sacrificing brightness

When the basic idea is clear, the next challenge is to hit the right balance between the brightness and understanding. Many leaders go to two extremes: excessively complicating their message with unnecessary complexity and excess or excessively simplified to ambiguity.

Thick, heavy writing jargon makes it difficult for the team to separate key points. But being too short is equally problematic. A hurried, two-way e-mail fired like a text message (for example, “Let’s discuss it soon”) It could appear efficient, but without a sufficient context creates additional work-removal of recipients to ask control questions or, worse, making incorrect assumptions that result in errors.

Strong writing is concise, but complete, depriving all the things that converts the message, maintaining the basic parts.

3. Give your message a brilliant structure

Writing without a structure is like speaking without a break – ideas are blurring and the meaning is lost. The best writing leads the reader without effort from one point to a different.

To achieve this, each magazine should happen after a brilliant hierarchy:

• Start with the important point: Readers should immediately capture the key message, they do not have to look for it in the middle of the paragraph.

• Transfer information to brilliant sections: Use short paragraphs, points or headers so that the content is easy to scan.

• Make sure logical progress: Each sentence should naturally result in the next one, helping the reader follow the thought process without confusion.

Cluttered, disorganized writing forces people to work harder to know your message. And in leadership, the more difficult it is to send to processing, the lower the probability that it will conduct motion.

4. Correction and revision accordingly

The first sketch is rarely the best sketch – the best writing happens in the version. The first sketch concerns ideas; The second concerns clarity.

Reading messages aloud often reveals what votes the eye: awkward phrase, unnecessary complexity or sentences that forces the reader to work too hard. If the sentence seems awkward when you speak aloud, it will be equally awkward when read.

To improve writing, focus on these key improvements:

• Simplify unnecessarily complex sentences: Cut out the excess of words and replace the jargon with a brilliant, direct language.

• Make sure that every sentence (and every word) serves the goal.

• Explain the expectations: Remove any ambiguity that may result in incorrect interpretation.

For leaders, writing does not mean that they sound impressive. This means making ideas, decisions and expectations undoubtedly clear. The influence of the leader depends on their ability to know by the people they lead.

If you want to boost your leadership, start from a small age. Correct one e -mail at once. Before sending the next message, ask yourself: does it say exactly what I want to say so clearly? Mastering clear writing will not only improve each day communication – it will make you a leader whose words have influence.