Writing is an important leadership skill

Writing is an important leadership skill that is often overlooked. It is unlikely that you will ever see writing at the top of any list of important leadership skills. For a leader to be effective they must communicate their outlook, vision and worldview to the people they are leading. A leader who cannot communicate well using written words is going to be severely handicapped.  (You know who/what we are talking about here.)

Another reason leaders need to write is to help them develop and clarify their ideas. Much of what makes someone a good leader is his or her viewpoint and perspective. Someone who makes good decisions usually does so because of how they look at problems. Someone who instinctively does the right thing will often have a difficult time explaining their decision-making process to others.

A leader who doesn’t take the time to develop and refine ideas and viewpoint can still be successful. But they will have a difficult time replicating their skills in others. You can’t teach someone to have the same “gut feeling” as you.

Entire article by Mark Shead at LEADERSHIP 501 is HERE.

As others have suggested, leaders can have success without writing about their views and ideas but it unlikely they can be significant without clearly expressing their ideas, perspective and viewpoint.  More about success versus significance HERE.