Issue 2
Hello! I’m excited to share a reflection from my friend Phil Berry. Phil is the CEO of Northwind Pharmaceuticals as well as an author and poet. Because of his interesting mix of vocations, I asked him to write a reflection on writing as a leadership development practice. The two big insights for me were: 1) start with writing one true sentence 2) the best writing starts with the words we need to share with ourselves.
Stay curious,
Wes
Writing as a Practice
"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know," Ernest Hemingway wrote in his novel, A Movable Feast. He was reminding himself how to begin when he was stuck. His counsel seemed appropriate for a reflection on using writing as a practice for leadership development. However, the “all” in “all you have to do…” can seem like a thousand-mile journey.
Especially for those of us not dependent on writing to make a living, turning our thoughts into one true sentence may seem overwhelming.
But by treating writing as a practice – even a leadership development practice–we can use it to direct our thinking to better connect with ourselves and others. One thing I’ve learned is that our best writing needs to excite something in us first. From there, it can be made to land wherever else it needs to.
Why Write?
Writing changes us. When we write, every word takes us closer to some truth or further from it. In that process, we have to grapple with our own ideas, joys, frustrations, observations, and journey. We subject ourselves to the process of thinking, structuring, refining, failing, and concluding. There is no embarking on such a journey without something changing within us along the way.
Writing captures moments. Whether we capture an image, a thought, a memory, or an insight, writing is a glimpse into what we're thinking, feeling, seeing, and experiencing, right now. Or it can help us understand the season of life we’re in. It can also be history and prophecy– helping us to see where we've been and imagine where we might go.
Writing allows us to give form to complexity. Words form ideas, then pathways, and then finally action. Writing allows us to play out ideas, revise them, learn from them, and redirect them, all before jumping to action. Writing helps us build castles in the air and tear them down before they fall. We can argue with ourselves, with others, or with reality - seeking some measure of clarity through our syllables and sentences.
Writing transports us. Words can be beautiful and uplifting. They help us soar beyond earthbound reality. They allow us to taste, touch, and experience other places while safely testing the terra firma in the landscape of our mind. Writing allows others to come with us and to see what we see.
Writing pushes us to think clearly. Writing forces us to take a position. Words demand order and intention. The process chases away incoherence and illuminates what we really mean. Writing reveals the rambling mind, forces us to confront it, and demands control over what’s scattered or half-formed.
Writing exposes us. Sharing our writing puts us at risk: risk of confusion, of ridicule, of disagreement, and of rejection. A sentence might alienate someone we don't want alienated, reveal something we didn't intend to reveal, or convey something we didn't intend to convey. Our writing might also convey exactly what we intended, but create unintended consequences. Though writing can expose us to risk, it also exposes us to reward. Our words might attract others, inspire them, encourage them, or soothe them. Putting our voice out there may bring praise or scorn.
Writing allows us to safely voice confusion and frustration. When chaos closes in, writing gives it room to run. We can release the pressure of destructive emotions into words that would otherwise gather coherently in the wrong place. Releasing them onto the blank page, drains their energy, and possibly releases their power to hold us back in fear or thrust us forward destructively. By draining the toxicity privately, we can express cooler words publicly.
Writing is yours. Good or bad, elegant or elementary, your writing belongs to you along with all the thoughts and words you've collected over a lifetime. Each word sits perfectly happy, waiting patiently, for you to call upon it in that next sentence, paragraph, post, letter, or chapter. And all of them desire to express from the fount of your being, whether on paper or in the digital universe. Writing is intelligence manifested, reason directed, and creativity brought to life, in an endless combination of letters and sentences telling the world, and yourself, that you are here, your voice engaged, and your heart ready to share. Your words cry, “I’m ready to say something and stand by it, no matter the consequences.”
True Sentences
All you have to do is write one true sentence. Just write it to yourself first.
The points we want to make, ideas we want to convey, dreams we want to share, or even the rants we feel compelled to immortalize, all land first within ourselves. They start as notions in our head, but the ink transforms that notion into something else.
Writing is a process of making real all that hides inside of us. Sometimes it needs to be shared and sometimes it needs to be purged. Whatever the case, the physical act of writing brings it all into visible form and structure, ready to be put to use, or put away.
Ultimately, writing changes us. And that’s the best reason for it. Once we write the idea, the dream, or the observation, we've planted something more deeply – we start to bring an idea into reality.
Start with one true sentence. It will point to the next truth and, in so doing, begin the process of creating. We often think of writing for the point to be made to the world, but the best writing starts with the words we need to share with ourselves.
From the Creatio Substack
Why Self-Awareness is Important | You are a complex individual who is always changing
Ideas I’m Pondering
“Your path was running easy when the feeling was strong. Who do you choose to be when the feeling is gone?” - Judah & the Lion
I heard someone ask this great question last week - it’s the question at the heart of every growing business: “What does it look like to lead people who are doing something that you don’t know how to do or even understand?”
Productive Feeling
Overwhelm is the experience we have when our thoughts or emotions are overcome by life’s problems.
If you’re interested in a copy of the Productive Feeling e-book send me a note!
Interesting Reads / Listens
Great Questions, Not Answers, Are the Best Way to Deliver Strategy, David Baker
Leadership Through Hospitality, Coaching for Leaders
The Practice of Groundedness, Brad Stulberg
Stay Curious
Each quarter I host intimate, multidisciplinary conversations called MindTrusts to explore and reframe big questions about leading through today’s complex world.
Last quarter I hosted a conversation on Complexity + Leadership.
If you’re interested in the next conversation, contact me.
