Management by Executive Essays

A company that has its executives write life essays is rare, apparently. I am convinced it is a serious management method, for three reasons. First, writing is an inventory: executives buried in daily operations will never articulate where they came from and where they are going unless the time is deliberately made.

One said afterward, "I finally organized what my life has been." An organized person is strong. Second, what is written can be shared: stories told over drinks evaporate; essays remain and can be reread. A leadership team that knows each other's origins in writing holds together differently in crisis.

Third, writing reveals: what one writes and omits, whether the past or the future runs longer — I received more from six essays than from a hundred pages of reports. Tools: paper and pen. Cost: zero. I know no management measure with higher returns. Try it with your team — beginning with yourself.

What do you work for?