Research shows that CEOs, senior executives, and top-tier managers spend an average of 1,200 hours a year on non-face-to-face communications.
If you are a leader working 60+ hours a week, nearly 40% of your time is consumed by a "digital void" of emails, reports, and memos. This isn't just an administrative burden; it is a profound strategic leak.
When your inbox becomes your primary workplace, you aren't steering the ship—you're bailing water.
As Michael Porter and Nitin Nohria noted in the Harvard Business Review, time is the scarcest resource a leader has. The landmark HBS CEO Time Study found that while face-to-face interaction is a leader's most effective tool, the "digital friction" of written communication is draining organizational capacity at an alarming rate.
Financially, miscommunication is a silent killer. It costs an estimated $12,506 per employee annually in lost productivity. For a mid-sized enterprise, this is a multi-million-dollar tax on your existence.
In November 2022, the friction of writing seemed to vanish with the arrival of Generative AI. We can now generate text at the speed of light. But this speed has created a dangerous paradox: we are communicating faster than ever, but connecting less than ever.
Without a strategy, AI generates what I call "Workslop"—grammatically perfect but strategically hollow noise that confuses the mission and erodes your authority.
To reclaim your 1,200 hours, you must move from being a Passenger (who accepts generic AI output) to a Pilot (who commands strategic outcomes). This requires a fundamental shift in how you approach every message.
The cure is the Unbreakable Rule of Business Writing: It is not about you. It is about the reader.
To stop the leak, every message you send must answer three questions for your audience instantly:
Starting today, don't open your email client or your AI chatbot first. Start with "Step Zero." Define your Commander’s Intent: What is the specific, tangible action you want your reader to take?
By mastering the craft of precision communication, you do more than save your own time. You lift your entire organization out of the fog of bad writing.
Are you ready to take back your 1,200 hours?
Download a free summary of the book: "Messaging Made Agile: Strategy First, AI Second" for free.
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