Writers Are Leaders – Top 7 Traits Common to Both

© Ugur Akinci

Writers are leaders.

Let’s examine the top-7 leadership traits listed by Napoleon Hill in his classic “Think and Grow Rich” and see how they relate to our noble and beloved profession, writing:

1) UNWAVERING COURAGE. Writers must have a lot of courage to write the facts, their own facts, or things about the world as they see them. If you do not have the courage to call a spade a spade, then you’ll end up a hack, fudging things in order to make a buck and call it a day. Even to write poetry you need a lot of courage to be honest with yourself and to tell the truth as is. Read Charles Bukowski to see how truthful a poet can be to his inner landscape. It’s not easy but you have to do it if you want to become a good writer that helps others lead better lives.

2) SELF-CONTROL. A writer with the courage to tell the truth will be hit right and left with criticism. There will be rewards and enticements to change path and fall in the fold. To continue on your selected path you need a lot of self-confidence and self-control. You have to remain calm and true to your own North. You gotta take care of that inner compass to keep writing what you should be writing, even if you don’t make much money at it at first. All good leaders and writers are resilient, with their inner steel shining bright and illuminating the world.

3) A KEEN SENSE OF JUSTICE. Writers who are knowingly unjust, who fail their own principles of justice and fairness, cannot maintain self-control either. Justice is our strength. The certain knowledge that we are being as fair and just as we can be with what we know about a situation or tropic, is our foundation. It’s the rock on which legacies are built. Otherwise it’s all quick sand; it’s all desolation and dissolution before the day is over. Writers and leaders with a sense of justice sleep well at night.

4) DEFINITENESS OF DECISION. A writer who is not firm about his decision to write a topic is a writer lost in the world. We have to create the image of the goal we’d like to achieve first and then go at it; otherwise we’ll be wandering from one linguistic pyrotechnics show to another. We’ll have all the sails to carry us safely across the oceans without, however, the rudder to point us to the safe shore ahead. To parody a classic American Express commercial: “Definite Decision – Don’t Leave Home Without It!”

5) DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Definite decision is a must for writing success. But do you also have the plans to translate that decision into action? You make up your mind 100% to write the next bestseller. That’s excellent. But have you picked a topic that would appeal to the millions or do you still entertain the dream that your guide to the best restaurants in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia will hit the NYT Best Seller List? When will you write this best seller? How many hours a day will you devote to it? How will you network with social media and build up your platform, etc.? A decision without a plan and a deadline is nothing but a daydream, no matter how firm it is.

6) THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR. A good writer always surprises us pleasantly by delivering more than what we’ve paid for. Perhaps we’ve paid for that Mediterranean Cooking book just to learn a few Mediterranean recipes. But what if we are also pleasantly surprised with tips on the best Mediterranean cities where to shop for the ingredients, fantastic table-setting ideas for different annual occasions, and interesting anecdotes from the lives of famous Mediterranean chefs? Would that color up your reading experience and warm your heart? That’s what good writers do. They deliver more than what the reader bargains for.

7) A PLEASING PERSONALITY. At its highest level, writing is a “contact sport.” Yes, we all create our writing in solitude, when no one else is paying attention. But to get our work to the world, to help others benefit from it and to make their lives just a bit easier, we need the help and support of others. And for that, we need to develop a pleasing personality. Even Charles Bukowski who developed this rough and gruff outward persona which helped him sell a lot of books proved to be very accommodating and pleasing when he was surrounded by his fans and autograph seekers. Being nice to others is always a smart and compassionate thing to do, both for leaders and writers.

Be a leader in changing our world for the better with the best writing you can come up with and serve with all the skill in your frontal cortex and all the courage in your heart. Bon Voyage!

Photo Wikipedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lion_snow.jpg