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The author, Jordan Peterson, asks why rich people send their kids to liberal arts colleges. Is it because they are stupid? No, it’s because they know that nothing makes you more powerful than being literate and articulate, and there isn’t any single skill that will move you up the ranks of any organization than the ability to communicate. The ability to read is the ability to learn. Communication skills buttress your ability to negotiate, persuade, and win people over. On top of all of that, great communicators are confident. People with a clear and organized sense of what they believe and can articulate it with ease and elegance are typically the most confident people in the room. People gravitate to confident leaders.
Kevin O’Leary, of the television show Shark Tank, said if someone asked him five years ago what skill is the most valuable in the economy, he would have said engineering without question. However, today, he would say it’s the ability to tell a story. Think about that. The most valuable skill in today’s economy is storytelling. O’Leary wasn’t the first to say that. Ten years ago, I remember asking Bill Clinton what made him a great speaker, and he said he was a good speaker because he is a good storyteller. As our economy evolves, the ability to communicate will become even more valuable.
Almost everyone can recite a checklist of what makes a great leader. Vision, integrity, and authenticity frequently make the list, but you rarely hear about the importance of elite communication skills. There are a million books about success on the market. They tell you to wake up at 5 am, do daily affirmations, think positively, and upgrade your friends. But they don’t say much about the most important skill set for long-term sustainable success, the ability to communicate your ideas with proficiency. Perhaps it’s because it takes work, or maybe it’s one of those secrets that the ultra-successful keep for themselves and their families.
If you want to be a better communicator, you need to work at it like everything else. Read, write, and study a speaker you admire. I have always been a reader, but I also do a lot of writing. There is a concept known as deliberate practice. You can write a thousand email messages and never improve your writing skills. You will only get better if you are conscious and deliberate about getting better. If you want to be a better writer, be attentive to your writing and work on it.
Every week, I go through the exercise of writing this blog. It takes time, but it forces me to organize my thoughts and be thoughtful about the words I choose. I believe this process not only makes me a better writer, but I am confident it also improves my speaking and presentation skills. Writing makes my thoughts more concise and fleshed out. All of us who are in business are in the business of communicating. Whether it’s to clients, colleagues, or employees, the quality of our communication will determine whether we get that sale, promotion, or recruit.
It has been said that success is a factor of what you know and who you know, but I would amend that. Who you know and what you know is only valuable if you know how to communicate what you know to the right people.
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