“How you communicate… will have a huge impact on your success.”

Should we listen to a banker…?

Not usually, but for once, a leading financier has echoed a truth that we should all bear in mind.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently visited his alma mater to share advice and tips with some eager and bright young minds, and said the one skillset that’s becoming harder to find is…the ability to write.

“I’ll tell you one that we’re finding less and less inside the firm that I think is an important skill set…is an ability to write.” Solomon said during the panel Q&A.

“How you communicate with other people, how you interact with other people, how you express yourself will have a huge impact on your success.” He told a group of Hamilton College students earlier in the day at the college’s career centre.

For a professional writer it’s extremely encouraging to hear a figurehead of the financial world reveal how important it is to be clearly understood. To communicate clearly and with relevance, to build relationships, motivate a team, or win over an audience, real or digital.

We are surrounded by ‘content’. Every individual and organisation on the planet now seem to publish some news, opinions, articles, offers, or inducements every single day, including us. The result is that we‘ve increased our resistance to this kind of interruption or distraction. We brutally filter out anything that doesn’t give us ‘real’ and instant value.

And as Mr Solomon points out, when we find content that is relevant, concise, targeted and meaningful, we find value.

 Anything else is a waste of your time and theirs.