I like this approach:
If you’re growing a garden you need to pull out the weeds. But flowers will die if all you do is pick weeds. They need sunshine and water. People are the same. You can critique people to help them improve. But you also need to encourage and compliment them.
Your success will depend entirely on your ability to communicate well. I don’t think that’s an overstatement. If you can write well and speak clearly — able to effectively communicate the thoughts in your head so the other person understands exactly what you are trying to say — you are on your way to effective leadership, compelling thoughts, and convincing people to see your perspective. Conversely, if you can’t communicate well, your success will be limited. As a first step, invest the time in learning to write effectively, even 2-3 sentence-long emails. If you write effectively, your speech will also become more coherent and compelling.
A bonus of learning to communicate effectively is you also learn to THINK better. If you can’t explain it well enough, you don’t understand it well enough. So learning to communicate it also helps you learn to think through it.
I was a young leader. I was the president of my high school and college. I was an officer in the Air Force and put in charge of 23 people… at only 22 years old. I made a lot of mistakes, and if I could go back and give some advice to my younger self, this is what I would say:
A title is not authority. Just because you are “in charge” doesn’t mean you are actually in charge. If you want to lead, you have to earn credibility over time, especially if you’re a young leader. How do you earn credibility and followers?
