As a career and life coach, my clients—and casual encounters—often ask me what one skill that they should work on to advance their career in the specific area of their work. This is particularly true during December each year, when everyone is thinking about their New Year’s Resolution that they want to focus on. If I already know what the person is engaged in, as is the case with my clients, I do not need to ask questions in response to their query. But in the case of casual encounters I invariably ask them what line of work they are engaged in just to see what their focus might be and also for me to know for my own curiosity.

So, when I am talking to someone engaged in big data or analytics they expect me to tell them to learn all about Block Chain and understand how they can apply that skill in their area of work to advance their career. If that person is engaged in Supply chain they expect me to tell them to learn how IoT or Robotics is going to influence how their Supply chain is going to be managed in the future. For someone in marketing they expect me to tell them to become an expert in how Real-Time Bidding (RTB) works for ad placements to get high ROI on their ad spend, etc. They are surprised when my answer is the same to all of them regardless of what their response is to my question about their area of work and what they should do to advance themselves during the coming New Year—and beyond!

That one skill which can benefit any career at any stage of their evolution is good writing as the most important aspect of their overall communication skill!

Why?

Having now worked with nearly 6,500 clients across the globe in almost all areas of professional careers—from neurosurgeons to movie stars and from architects to zoo keepers—the one single factor that threads through their needs is their communication skills, specifically, their writing skills. The bulk of my time I spend working for my clients is either listening to them—an important communication skill—or writing or re-writing what they want to say about themselves. During the past 17 years that I’ve taken on this mantle as their career and life coach I can say that nearly 90% of what I do belongs in this category. The remainder is digging deeper into how to formulate a client’s career plan and how to develop a roadmap for their growth, so that they can own their roadmap and excitedly prosecute it to advance their career.

Why is one’s writing ability so important as a part of one’s communication skill? Here are my reasons:

1. Writing something down changes your view of what you are contemplating. Even writing down your own goals makes you think differently about them than when you just talk about your goals to someone. Just try it and see for yourself. Keeping written goals as visual reminders often can provide the fillip you need when you are feeling discouraged or when you are down on yourself!
2. As a famous author ones said, a writer is someone for whom writing is difficult and something that they constantly struggle with. Clear, fluid writing appears easy to master as you read through such narratives, but it is one of the most difficult skills to master. It takes diligence, constant effort at being critical of your own writing, and learning something new in how good writing can be mastered. It is life’s work.
3. Writing can transform how you see yourself. In any endeavor what you are and what you do is communicated by verbal messages—written and oral. I see this transformation in my practice when we collaboratively develop my clients’ messages (résumé, bio, LinkedIn Profile, or even their performance narrative during the Annual Performance Review or APR). It also ratchets up your confidence level in how you present your point of view as a result of such a narrative that you now own.
4. Good writing crystallizes your ideas into a coherent narrative and a compelling argument to influence others with your point of view. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is famously known to ask all participants in meetings to start the meeting by reading a multi-page narrative (up to six pages) authored by the person requesting the meeting to elicit participants’ response to the author’s proposal. He allows 15-40 minutes at the start of the meeting for everyone to read, digest, and comment on the narrative as the meeting is opened for a round-robin discussion. Just imagine the effort the narrative’s author must put into such a piece of writing and how a well-written narrative can change the course of so many influential minds!
5. A disciplined writing regimen ratchets up your ability to logically formulate a cogent argument and teaches you to thread through a series of logical statements that can become irrefutable if you know how to structure such a narrative. Often, such a regimen is often also self-evolving: By being objective and critical of what you produce you can learn to edit your own narratives to make them more polished, concise, and compelling. Of course, a second pair of critical eyes—someone with editing skills—can further help you ratchet-up your game. In addition, writing something that you want to deliver orally also helps you make that oral argument more effective and fluid.

Resources: Depending on your English proficiency you can decide which of the following resources is appropriate for your ongoing growth in how you express yourself.

I           Words and their usage

These resources send you a daily email with a new word, its usage, and etymology, etc.

1. Merriam-Webster Dictionaries: merriam-webster.com will email you a word every day for free. It also offers a paid on-line dictionary for an annual fee.
2. Wordsmith is run by Anu Garg and is also a free email service that sends new words every day. This is a great resource for a variety of reasons. wordsmith.org
3. Oxford University Press: Oxford Dictionaries Online provides free email service with daily words and their usage. Contact odo_us@OUP.COM It also offers subscription services
4. There are many online dictionaries available for free. Just Google your interest, (e.g., Dictionary of Urban Slang) and find what you are looking for.

II         English Writing

1. The best resource for improving your writing skills is provided by the Purdue University through its Online Writing Lab (OWL). https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ This rich resource offers a variety of avenues for you to improve your verbal skills through online exercises that allow you to visit different areas of your need: Grammar, Composition, Word usage, Pitfalls, etc.
2. Harvard U. has a free resource, especially for essay writing: writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu
3. Many resources can also be found through Google and other searches.
4. If you want to improve your written English make a habit of writing something every day. If you want to improve your written English make a habit of writing something every day. Better yet, start blogging. This will reward you with a following for your blog, which, in turn, will force you to keep a rhythm to your blog postings. This habit will also ratchet up your writing game! A a bonus you’ll develop a brand around the theme of your blogs.
5. Writing That Works, 3E: How to Communicate Effectively in Business (Roman & Raphaelson)

III        Speech/Accent

1. Several YouTube resources are available to improve your speaking abilities in both the US and British English. Rachel’s English is a channel that has many exercises and content (US)
2. Anglolink (By Minu) this is a UK-based version of English
3. There are many other providers of this content on YouTube.
4. There are also many excellent TED talks on communication, presentations, and body language. Watch them again and again and practice some of the tips offered in those talks.
5. Foreign-born professionals whose native language is not English sometimes need help with their accent and language usage. There are many professionals who specialize in accent reduction and speech improvement for foreign-born professionals immigrating to the US. You can find them on LinkedIn and other social media.

IV        Public Speaking/Leadership Communication

The best resource for improve your public speaking skills is the Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in every city, organization, and company. So, find a local chapter and sign-up. https://www.toastmasters.org/ Although not entirely free, it is almost.

Good luck with your New Year’s Resolution and beyond!