Observations on how the best leaders light the path. Bi-weekly premium essays on “What the Best Leaders Say” and free daily posts on “The Art of Communicating”
That’s beautiful
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You know what word we almost never hear in business conversations about communication? Beautiful. We talk about messages being clear. Concise. Strategic. And yet, when a message truly resonates, that’s exactly what it is. Beautiful. Isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that artificially decorating a message to make it look prettier will make it the least bit more effective. I’m also not suggesting to look at this as poetry. It’s more like the other way around. When it’s effective, it’s almost always also beautiful. Even if you didn’t think at all about intentionally making it so. For example, when form and meaning are perfectly aligned. When the words feel inevitable. When the audience doesn’t just understand the point but feels it. That’s beauty, isn’t it? Or when everything unnecessary falls away and only the essence remains. When a phrase captures a truth so clearly that it makes people pause. When it feels as if those words have always been waiting to be said. That’s also beauty, no? Don’t get me wrong though. Beauty is not really the point here. But in my experience it’s a fantastic measuring stick. If you look at your message, your keynote, your email, and you don’t think “This is beautiful,” I’ll passionately argue with you that you might not be there yet. I would immediately get suspicious. Is it really 100% sound? Clear? Does it say exactly what you want it to say? If it’s not beautiful, I bet that it doesn’t. What I find fascinating is that your gut will immediately tell you. We’re just not used to listening to it. But once you do listen, it becomes your compass. You know you need to keep tweaking until it’s also beautiful. And that’s the reason why what the best leaders say is often beautiful. Curious what you think. Have you ever looked at your communication this way? What role does beauty play in your communication? Keep lighting the path, __ Bringing people together for an event? My keynotes are sharp, respectful, and often unexpectedly personal. They give your audience insights they can act on. |
The Art of Communicating / What the Best Leaders Say
Observations on how the best leaders light the path. Bi-weekly premium essays on “What the Best Leaders Say” and free daily posts on “The Art of Communicating”
In a few days, my new project “What the Best Leaders Say” will launch. I thought it would be fun to look at the opposite first. The things they never say. What makes this list interesting to me is that most of it sounds reasonable at first sight. Human even. Like, this is a caring person. But in my experience, it often achieves the opposite of what was intended. Worse, I’ve even sometimes seen them being used to manipulate. To give the appearance of calm and clarity while the reality is...
What the Best Leaders Say Issue 1 Welcome to the first edition of What the Best Leaders Say. If you’ve been following my work for a while, you know that I’m not interested in convenient truths. I’m interested in helping people who care say what matters in the clearest way possible. Even if it’s inconvenient. Even if it’s difficult. Heck, even if it hurts. I wholeheartedly believe that we can’t leave the world to those who care less. Or those who communicate carelessly. We need people like...
I get it: The world doesn’t need another newsletter.But you know what? I don’t care. I launch one anyway. I want a place where I can go deep. Much deeper than in my usual posts. Where I can write the kind of pieces I wished existed when I was trying to make sense of leadership myself many years ago. A place where simplistic hacks are unwelcome. Because we value profound answers over quick ones. A place where we don’t stop at the recipe but try to understand why it works, where it works. And...