#45: You Can’t Lead if You Can’t Communicate. Why Leaders Need to Write.

Speaker A: Let's start by considering this observation from, uh, author Mark Twain. And he said, I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead. So this idea returns to me often. Um, whether I'm, like, writing for work, writing for three by five leadership here, or simply talking to other people about the discipline of writing. Twain's point is pretty unavoidable. And that is like, writing is hard because clarity takes time, precision takes effort, and brevity takes a, um, paradoxical amount of work. And yet, despite its difficulty, writing, and really more broadly, communication is foundational to leadership. And so there's one simple principle that leaders just must come to grips with, and that is you can't lead if you can't communicate. Because leaders use words to inform, argue, inspire, and to influence. We do this up, we do this down. We do this across teams, and we often do it beyond organizational boundaries altogether. And so our words, intentional or not, shape decisions, drive action, and cultivate commitment. So how we communicate matters, how we structure ideas for frame arguments and deliver messages has real consequences. Compelling others towards action and enabling that sound decisions and creating shared understanding are complex tasks that are influenced by many variables. Absolutely. Leadership communication is one of the most critical among them. And so we enable progress through our words, far often more than we actually realize. And while I believe technology and social norms may change, the need for clear, thoughtful, and compelling communication does not. So with that, we must also realize that just like any technical skill, writing requires deliberate practice and time. Crafting a message that makes sense to others, developing argument that motivates action, or offering guidance that creates clarity and efficiency is not easy. And yet, unfortunately, there is no shortcut. We must practice. And so that means we must start realizing that we all start somewhere. And that's okay. But after starting, we iterate, we invite feedback, we reflect, and then we repeat. So this week, we're looking at how leaders must cultivate a personal writing habit as a means to develop our communication skills. And so here in today's episode, we'll cover the importance of, uh, the important benefits of a personal writing habit. And then we're going to go into five simple steps that we can take to get started. So welcome M to this week's episode. I'm glad you're here. Let's get into it. This. This is the 3x5 leadership podcast. It's a show dedicated to making more intentional leaders, regardless of your role, rank, or responsibility, because we believe that better leaders can build a better world. The reality is, however, that you cannot Successfully or sustainably pour into others from an empty cup. So the question is, like, how do you keep your cup full as a leader? This show, we're here to help. The show aims to help by filling your cup with simple, practical strategies so that you can live, lead, and learn more intentionally. I'm Josh. Uh, I'm really glad that you've joined me here, uh, for today's episode. Um, we're going to get into it. So I want to start by saying, like a personal writing habit is one practical way that leaders can intentionally practice our communication skills for improvement. It does not require a platform. It does not require an audience. It doesn't even require an intention to share what you write. Over time through repetition and reflection, though, writing sharpens both our thinking and our ability to communicate that thinking. And the result is not only improved communication, but deeper personal insight that fuels ongoing leadership development. Now, I mean, to be honest, when I started 3by5 leadership as a platform years ago, I did not fully understand what I was doing or why I was doing it. I actually was not trying to become like a writer, um, as an engineer by training. I didn't really actually see myself as someone with the credentials or the voice to write publicly. And honestly, looking back at some of my earliest pieces now, I kind of cringe. The writing is rough, the thinking is kind of underdeveloped. And so it's easy for me to conclude when I read some of this stuff, I was just like, man, this is not good. Um, but it's important to admit that, um, because it's actually not bad, that discomfort is also evidence of growth. Seeing these old pieces is showing me the growth that has occurred over time. It reflects what sustained practice can produce over time. And so through a consistent habit of writing, a, ah, willingness to put unrefined ideas into the world and an openness to feedback to it. My communication has improved and I've kind of gotten to a point where, like, I am more frequently sought out for professional roles and responsibilities, specifically because of my written communication skills. And more importantly, I would say I'm a more intentional leader and a more disciplined communicator because of it, and more so certainly than I was just a few years ago. Now, to encourage others towards this developmental writing habit, I want to first highlight four benefits of a writing habit that I have experienced. And then after we go through those benefits, uh, then we will get into the meat of this episode and walk through several practical ways to get started. So the value of writing does not depend on, like, what you Write or, or how polished it is, or whether anybody actually else or anybody else actually reads it. The habit itself produces benefits. And in my experience, there's just four that particularly matter. First, writing creates space to move from execution to reflection. Execution and reflection. I see it as like those two things sitting at opposite ends of a spectrum. On the execution side, we have leaders who are immersed in doing right. It's the meetings, it's emails, it's decisions, deliverables, systems, even working with people. Here we're producing, we're responding, we're pushing progress forward every day. And in that mode, there's little space to, like, think deeply, to learn intentionally, or to ask reflective questions like, what am I learning? And what matters most right now? And maybe what should I change? Writing, however, forces a pause. It creates intentional space to step out of doing and into the opposite end of the spectrum, like thinking and reflection. And so, by setting a tide, even just a small window of time each week to write, leaders create the conditions necessary for this learning and growing. We talk about. The second benefit, uh, is that writing captures ideas before they disappear. I believe every experience, every conversation, book, podcast, or piece of feedback contains potential insight. And so the ideas often merge fleetingly, though maybe unexpectedly, and then they can connect unexpectedly sometimes, or maybe they just even insert surface in inconvenient times. So understanding that without a means to capture them, they can very easily become lost, Writing instead provides a means to collect and preserve the ideas for future use. And for me, like, this is central to the spirit of the name three by five Leadership. Because in my mind, every moment offers an opportunity to learn. And so even like a simple tool or a note, like a three by five card or a notebook or document would choose your adventure. But like, for me, it's a three by five card that can become the seed, the tool for insight, action, or growth if it's captured and thus allowing me to revisit it. The third benefit then is, uh, writing that clarifies and completes our thinking. Say it again. Writing clarifies and completes our thinking. Ideas often feel clear in our heads, and then we actually articulate it and it's a mess. Writing then exposes the gaps. Maybe it exposes weak logic, and it helps us identify half formed conclusions. And so developing an idea into a coherent piece forces clarity. It requires us to define the lesson, explain why it matters, and then shape it into something actionable. And again, just referring back to this platform and my own efforts, while 3x5 leadership does exist to help other leaders grow, it's also A reflective tool for my own development. Writing helps me make sense of what I'm learning, and in doing so, it sharpens my thinking and it strengthens my communication. Now, I don't mean to say that this whole thing is a selfish endeavor at all. I want to be clear or honest about that. But the benefits of this platform actually do begin with me as the writer. Okay, now, the fourth and final, um, benefit that I just want to bring to our attention here is that writing creates accountability. When ideas are captured in writing, they really become formalized. And that formalization increases personal accountability. If reflections are shared publicly, then as well, the effect is even more amplified because writing becomes a quiet commitment to align behavior with your stated values and lessons, the things you write about. Now, when I talk about accountability, accountability does not require perfection. That's not what I'm trying to get at here. It does, however, demand attention. And so, again, personal example. I remain open to being challenged with my actions at work, my lived experiences, my lived behaviors, the things that people experience in my behaviors at work, I'm open to being challenged about those in the world when they fall short of what I espouse here, in my words, on this platform. So if the audio doesn't match the visual kind of thing, I'm open to that. I have opened myself up to that feedback by putting this out here in the world. So that tension between aspiration and execution, it keeps me grounded, it keeps me humble, and it keeps me intentional as a leader. So together, we take all four of these benefits. These compound over time, increase reflective space, it preserves learning, sharpens thinking, and then it also increases accountability. And so with practice, it strengthens both our leadership effectiveness and our communication capacity. Now, before we get into the steps of formulating a writing habit, the actual meat of this episode, I want to emphasize one more time that, like, this really matters for leaders. Effective leadership requires effective communication. And so this is not about charismatic delivery of communication, but it's about sound structuring and framing of a narrative or an argument. Important leadership requirements. I don't know, like, think of all, just kind of the normal buzzwords, things like vision, direction, feedback, alignment, and trust, like, all of those things are mediated through our words. However, when our communication is unclear, our leadership effectiveness erodes. And so the basic argument of this entire episode really is that, like, writing is not a secondary skill or not even a convenience. It is a training ground for disciplined thought and intentional leadership. And moreover, a, uh, writing habit is one of the most accessible ways that leaders can invest in their own development it costs us something, sure, But I would say it doesn't cost us much more than like, a simple commitment, meaning a choice. Some invested time, though. Yes, I know that's scary. Some honesty maybe, dare I say, vulnerability, which probably is even more scary, as well as consistency. Yet the returns of this effort and this habit extend far beyond the page. Okay, so I got that out there. I just wanted emphasis one more time. So now here we are. How do we start a writing habit? So running is both personal and practical, okay? It's not some, like, dark magic reserved for the small elected group, nor is there like, a universal method, okay? It is absolutely accessible to you. And so in that spirit, here are just a few guiding practices that can help establish momentum. So the first one we're going to talk about, uh, is determining what you want to write about and why. Before worrying about the tools, the time, the structure, all those things. Just simply clarify your intent. What ideas, what experiences, maybe what questions or lessons feel most important to explore right now, and why are they worth, uh, your attention? Writing without purpose often leads to, like, this anxious worry or maybe sense, like stalled draft or abandoning the habit altogether. Starting with intention, though. Writing with intention, even just a loose one up front, creates direction and a real feeling of meaning behind the effort. Now, your focus does not need to be like this grand or polished thing, okay? It might be just a very small scale or simple leadership challenge that you're currently navigating or maybe recently did. It might be feedback that you received recently, uh, maybe a decision that you're wrestling with or a pattern that you're noticing in your own work or life. And so again, the goal is not to impress here, but to explore. And so when you're clear about what you are writing and why it matters, this habit becomes a lot easier to sustain. So that's number one. Number two is about place. Finding a place to write. This means intentionally creating time and space. Okay? Identify when and where reflection is most realistic for you. Um, for me, it's not sexy, but like me, as an example, writing happens either super early in the morning before the rest of the family wakes up, or late at night after the kids go to bed. For me, I prefer a quiet and isolated environment with minimal distractions. So that's me. And it's taking some time and iteration to figure out what's going to work best. Um, so you can do the same. Don't have to, like, set it in stone up front. Like, I can't deviate from this at all. Try a couple things out, but Determine what conditions support your focus and then protect it. So that's number two, finding a place to write. Number three is finding, Finding, uh, a writing process. Um, some leaders may write best through this like, free flowing stream of consciousness approach. And like, when I, in that approach, I kind of think of like a hey, dear diary. And then you just kind of like vomit on the page. And that might work, and that's okay. Others might benefit from some structure, like maybe an outline or something. Again, there's no right way. I begin with like pen and paper, and on that paper I map out the ideas visually before transferring them into a document. Um, so it might be like some sort of like visual network map of ideas or putting thoughts into organized buckets of topics, depending on kind of the topic or thing I'm approaching. Um, but I start with a visual approach on a scratch piece of paper and a pen. So again, um, find out what works for you. If it's a mind map, if it's an outline, if it's this stream of consciousness, free flow, free for all. Um, experiment until you find an approach that supports clarity rather than just friction. Okay. All right, so fighting writing process, that's number three. Number four is to actually use a structure then. Okay, so this is a little different than what we just talked about, like your process. But there's a structure on how you frame your narrative, your argument, your, your concept, whatever it is. So a consistent framework reduces the cognitive load and it increases the output as well. So I tend to rely on a simple structure and it's one that I reference often here on the platform. Um, but it's kind of like three questions, right? Question one is, what, what am I talking about? Question two is, so what? Why does this matter? And then number three is now what? Like, okay, what do we do about this? Um, that approach, for me, like, it clarifies the idea, explains the significance, and then it translates it into action. And so for before I begin writing a draft, I have a product. Maybe it's an outline or some scribble notes on paper or some form of visual model I talked about earlier. But that thing, that product clearly captures my thoughts under some major categories of how I organize my idea here. So the major categories, there's really just three of them. M. First is my thesis. What am I trying to argue? What is my thesis? The second part is maybe the comments that I'm trying to craft into an introduction if I plan to share this, right? So if I'm drafting a blog post for three by five, for example, like How I kind of start this piece off. And so I have a separate kind of category of the comments that I want to craft into an introduction, statement or portion. And then the third part, uh, is the definitive articulation of again, what I just talked about. What am I talking about? So what, the meaning, why this matters, and then now what. Which are like the practical call to action steps. So there's other prompts and there's other formats and those might work well for you. Um, but again, key is consistency, not, uh, perfection and pause and offer. In fact, I didn't just formulate that structure for myself up front. I've been using that for a decade. That has not been the case. And it's taken me a decade to really get to that level of clarity and consistency in a format, in a structure. So again, try experiment and try things that work out for you until you can get to one where it does. That thing I just talked about at the start of this, um, step, which is reducing the cognitive load, because I think there's a huge emotional load that comes with starting to writing is the upfront. Right. It can be scary for a lot of people still, myself included, to start writing something because you're like, oh, I'm not worthy. I don't have any sort of justification or validation to share my thoughts. That emotional load in itself is a lot to try to m. Deal with when you're trying to start writing. If I can remove the cognitive load of how to do it with a structure, again, it just removes or it lowers the barrier to access to this habit and, uh, makes it easier to get into and to maintain as well. So use a structure. It makes it efficient, it reduces the cognitive load, and, um, it can help you with the output and making it a clearer, uh, argument overall. And then that was number four. So the number five, the last kind of step of this whole thing, um, it's kind of ironic, um, title, but just like it's have a plan. Have a plan. Uh, I would say though up front, like, we don't write just simply to publish. This is not performative and it's not for recognition. It's not for leverage or it's not for visibility either. This argument. Developmental writing is a habit to grow, to grow as communicators and to grow as leaders. But I would still say it's important to be intentional about what you want to do with your writing once it exists. So think about it. Will your reflections remain private inside the journal, inside the notebook, inside whatever, serving primarily just as your own Developmental tool for your own thinking and your growth. Hey, that might be it, and that's okay. Or maybe will you share them selectively with a mentor or colleague or a small team as a way to invite dialogue and feedback? That could be a means. Or we go big picture here and kind of overall and just like, choose to publish this more broadly, adding your perspective to the collective body of knowledge and to the collective learning of others. So the public sharing is not required for writing to be valuable. But we kind of talked about, uh, earlier, it does amplify the developmental effect. It introduces accountability and invites challenge and it forces greater clarity. I have to be able to, to put together an argument that is clear enough for someone else besides myself to understand. So even if your writing is never shared, you still need a plan to keep what you capture alive. So even questions, things like, how will you revisit your ideas? How will lessons resurface when they're, uh, to make sure that they're relevant? And how will insights turn into action rather than just being buried in notebooks or word documents or like forgotten files? A writing habit only compounds when learning is retrieved, when it's applied, and then when it's tested over time. And so a simple plan, however modest, ensures that your reflections continue to inform how you lead rather than fading into storage. So before we move on, I just review very quickly the four, or excuse me, the five steps to starting this writing habit. Number one, determine what you want to write about and why. Number two, find a place to write. Number three, find a writing process. Number four, use a structure. And then number five, have a plan on what you want to do with it once it exists. Okay, um, now is one transition to some, like, final conclusions and then kind of a call to action here. Said it a couple times already. I want to say one more time. You can't lead if you can't communicate. Clear, compelling communication is difficult and it demands practice. And a writing habit is one of the most effective ways that leaders can sharpen this essential skill while growing in intentionality and self awareness. So this week, identify a small window of time to write. Choose a place, capture one idea that feels worth exploring. Don't worry about quality. Just simply start. Start somewhere. Think about what's on your mind right now, what deserves reflection. Write that down, just the idea. And then from there, see what begins to take shape. Okay, um, that's it. Thanks for listening today. Um, a couple logistical notes as you, you go here. Um, I do hope that this insight fills your cup, uh, a little bit today. And helps you lead and learn a little more intentionally this week. Uh, so I do encourage you for three things. First, I, uh, encourage you to consider liking and reviewing the show on whatever platform you listen to. It helps us build the credibility and expand our reach a little bit. Um, number two, if you don't already, you can subscribe to three by five Leadership so that you can get insights just like this one sent directly to your inbox every Monday. That's it. It's like, it's not. There's no spams, there's no games, there's no gimmicks, there's no catch. There's nothing. It's just like, I'm just trying to be a little helpful by adding some value to your inbox each week. That's it. So if you want to sign up, you, uh, can head to our welcome page, which is@, uh, 3x5 leadership.com and then number three, lastly, uh, our new Leadership University is coming in a few short months. So, uh, if that sounds interesting to you, you can learn more about it. And then you can also sign up to be notified when it's ready at our university page, which is 3x5 leadership.com university. And both of those links that we just mentioned will be in the show notes as well, so you can click on those. That's it. Um, I appreciate it. Thanks again. And, uh, until next episode, friends, please, as always, take care. Lead well.