The ability to write a valuable job skill

Over the weekend, Yahoo Finance published a story written by reporter Julia La Roche, based on a panel discussion held at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. The panel featured Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and former Legendary Entertainment CEO Thomas Tull. Mr. Tull left Legendary Entertainment to start an investment firm called Tulco. Both are graduates of Hamilton College.

Anyway, Mr. Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, identified the ability to write as a valuable skill that appears to be disappearing in the workforce these days.

Here are two quotes from Mr. Solomon as reported in the article that I found inspiring and fully agree with:

How you communicate with other people, how you interact with other people, how you express yourself will have a huge impact on your success. And, when I try to point to things that have helped me, my ability to communicate, which was rooted in a lot of experience that I got here on the hill.

The other thing I'd point to that's so important is there is a real emphasis when people are interviewing around academics and I.Q. I think it's way overweighted...There should be equal emphasis on E.Q. and how you interact with people, how you relate to people, and how you connect with people.

Click here to read the full article, which has more great advice from Mr. Solomon, as well as from Mr. Tull.

I'm so excited that Mr. Solomon shared his thoughts on this, and I quickly sent the article to the English teacher I work with (I co-teach a junior-level English class). Writing, and communication overall, is a valuable skill to have, and I would agree that it appears to be a skill that is rather difficult to find out there in the workforce and job market these days.

It doesn't matter what you want to pursue for work and career. The ability to communicate effectively and relate to other people is critical for success in any career path.

You're going to need solid writing, verbal communication, and relationship-building skills for anything related to customer service, sales presentations, marketing, persuasion, preparing reports, placing orders with suppliers, closing deals, networking, leading meetings, management, entrepreneurship, event planning, fundraising and working with donors, you name it.

So, if you're not feeling very confident in your writing and overall communication abilities, practice with some fun writing prompts from time to time. Read more for enjoyment and look up the definitions of words you're not familiar with in order to expand your vocabulary and contextual understanding.

If you enjoy writing, or are starting to realize that you may enjoy it, you might be interested in checking out this previous post on career options with writing skills. There are many neat opportunities out there if you have these skills.