Writing for Leadership
A little while ago I read a post stating that all
educational leaders should regularly tweet and they all need to write a regular
blog. I took it as an ‘advance your
career’ idea and followed the directions reluctantly: advancing relentlessly is
wearisome! But recently I attended a workshop,
Writing for Professional Growth, which opened with the interesting idea that
leaders write and writers lead. As the
workshop progressed, I began to see clear parallels to leadership and the
writing process. I also grew to
appreciate that by writing, I was adding an important dimension to my daily work
in leadership.
Here is what I learned:
Leaders write and writers learn. (Yep—said it again!)
- Storytelling is a facet of leadership. Sharing the story brings attention, support and transparency to my daily work. (Can you believe the Free Press used to have four fulltime writers dedicated to education? There is almost no visibility for positive stories about education in the news anymore.)
- Writing is a physical activity. It’s generative, creative and productive. Writing provides balance to the voracious reading most leaders must engage in.
- Writing is collaborative. Except for a personal journal, writing has an intended audience. Writing collaboratively makes for a stronger product.
The writing process is the leadership process.
- Have a vision of where you’re going. Vision drives planning, and if you have a vision of what you’d like to create, you’ll be more likely to create it.
- Be clear about what you’re NOT doing. Sometimes knowing what you’re not talking about helps you know what you are talking about.
- Know your audience
- Cater to the needs of your unique audience
- Match your interests with those of your audience
- Know your guidelines. If you’ve got the wrong subject matter, no matter how good it is, no one will pay attention.
- Polish does matter. You may only get one chance for a first impression, but it is a great idea to revise many times before publishing. That way you’ve practiced that first impression many times before it happens!
