Write Like a Leader

There's a kind of sameness spreading across the Internet. Haters call it AI slop. They are not wrong.

I see AI as a tool, and one that is likely not going away anytime soon. The benefit or detriment comes from how you use that tool. Today, many people are defaulting to starting memos written by AI with "As we navigate an evolving landscape" or some other familiar cliche. That creates leadership updates that are technically correct yet completely forgettable. 

It's just more blah, blah, blah.

This is what happens when communication becomes a task to complete rather than a choice to make. The content becomes disconnected from meaning. It is more about the exercise of communication than delivering a clear message. The comms box gets checked and the people on the receiving end learn that they don't need to pay attention because there's nothing in particular to hear.

While AI critics are quick to blame it for the rise of this prolific and generic style of communication, the fact is that AI accelerated the problem but it didn't create it. It just made generic faster and easier. And in doing so, it made the ability to write with clarity and purpose an even more powerful tool.

Have A Point of View

The most common failure in leadership communication isn't dishonesty. It's hedging. Strategies or ideas described in language so careful it says nothing at all.

You don't have to be provocative to have a point of view. You just have to believe something and say it clearly. The leaders whose communications people actually read and remember directly tell you what they think and why.

"Here's what I see happening." "Here's what I think it means for us." "Here's what I'd do differently if I were starting over."

That's leadership communication. The reader doesn't have to agree with you. They just need to understand that you have a plan.

Write Inside the Experience

Generic leadership content describes. Good leadership writing inhabits.

As the journalists used to say, “show don’t tell.”

If your organization is facing a problem, you should acknowledge it. Dancing around the reality only serves to undercut your gravitas. If you recognize the problem, it is almost certain your colleagues above and below you on the org chart do too. 

So tackle it directly.

That is what makes a leadership message land. Don’t avoid the discomfort. Lean into it instead. That is leadership. That experience can’t be duplicated by your favorite AI. It will only give you a copy of a copy of someone else’s experience. 

Safe communication is, by definition, communication that nobody objects to. It's costless and it does very little work. The most useful things a leader can say are often the things that require a little courage. 

Sound Like a Leader

Read your draft out loud. If it is filled with equivocation or weak words or unclear points or bloated bureaucratic language, rewrite it.

We've been trained by decades of organizational culture to reach for stiff, formal language when we want to sound credible. So we write "leverage synergies" instead of "work together." We write "it is important to note" instead of just noting the damn thing. We passive-voice our way out of accountability.

Leaders who communicate well do the opposite. Shorter sentences. Active verbs. Cleaner structure. The willingness to say "we don't know yet" without retreating into bureaucratic cover. 

That kind of directness creates trust.

Use The Tools Judiciously

None of this means you should avoid AI entirely, although that’s a valid choice for many people. AI can be useful for getting words on the page, for structure, for working through what you're trying to say. But the final message shouldn't read like an AI first draft. 

It should read like you worked on it. It should be human.

Everyone in every organization now has access to a first draft that reads correctly. But that draft usually falls apart on deeper reading. The words are there on the page yet it says nothing of substance. It is devoid of meaning.

Good leaders do more than check the comms box and rely on AI. They write with intention. They take the risk of saying what they mean. 

Those leaders can use AI to make the writing process easier. But they don’t surrender themselves to the tool.