Why is Reading and Writing Important?

Even after retiring from the regular force in 2019 and now working as a public servant at the Canadian Army Command and Staff College as the CA NCMPD, I still strongly believe that senior NCMs must be strong supporters and advocates for NCM PME. Why you ask? Ultimately, it’s because this is the level where you have a relationship with those that you connect and work with. Senior NCMs also have influence over soldiers, and not just because of their position or title, but because of their leadership. These should be reason enough to encourage your help in supporting the future of NCM PME, and if not, read on. 

From my time as a Squadron Sergeant-Major and a Regimental Sergeant-Major, I noticed that at times it was difficult to get some senior NCMs to write articles for the local base newspaper or a Branch/Corps newsletter. It wasn’t that they were reluctant to write, it was more about them being too busy while in garrison, and not having the time to complete all their tasks, so something would be bound to not get done. As you can assume and understandably, in these cases, it was the article that would miss the deadline. 

And now that we have the Line of Sight website, which is strictly dedicated to PME in the CA, the task in getting submissions to be published on this PME site needs to be a focus of leadership at all levels. Over the last few years, I’ve been working toward expanding my own professional and self-development ideas. I’ve asked myself a number of times: "how do I improve as a leader, and how can I influence other leaders to improve". This is exactly where many leaders need to focus earlier in their career. Written communication skills are just as important as verbal communication skills. Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than face to face, email or a telephone conversation. It’s also about conveying critical points that are significant for others. Writing allows a way to collect your otherwise scattered thoughts and ideas, and channel them into logical thoughts and information. It’s hard to argue, but writing does help in the area of self-improvement and enhances problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Begin by being the driving force behind your professional journey of becoming better and trying to make those around you better. Soldiers follow you as a leader because they want to, not because they have to. That is where your writing skills will come into play. We need to encourage soldiers and leaders to participate, and not just by reading, but also by sharing. As a leader, there is a direct requirement for you to influence beyond your direct reports, and you now have an indirect way of influencing a much larger audience. In our line of work, sharing our experiences so others can learn is generally a good way to do business. Especially where the value of being unsuccessful could cost someone their life.   

Justifiably, each of us faces a busy schedule every day and sometimes finding the time to read, write and think is a repeated challenge. Even as we train our bodies physically, we must improve and train our minds through these time-consuming acts. Also knowing that professional development will occur in many different forms, experiencing it in a variety of different forms is extremely helpful. I would argue that even though writing is an excellent form, without a doubt, professional military reading is the best form of professional development. It strongly encourages a wide range of diversity in intellectual development. If you haven’t started already, now is the time to begin, you will be a better officer and NCM for it.  

We each have valuable lessons to pass on, and we need to be committed to the development of the profession of arms as a whole, through the crafting of ideas for others to learn from. We are leaders and mentors, with knowledge of our own branch, corps and the institution as a whole. Your opinion does matter and sharing your experiences will help our profession grow and take on the challenges that lie ahead, all through your written contributions.