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Leadership Lessons from My Role as a Ghostwriter
Leadership Lessons from My Role as a Ghostwriter
By Jeffrey A. Mangus
My favorite part of writing books for leaders and founders is uncovering their untold stories and the pivotal moments that influenced their journey to success. The front-row experience has given me crucial insights into my ghostwriting roles and business. The journey of writing a book is an adventure that imparts priceless lessons, especially when you aim to assist others in their leadership journey. I’ve gained valuable insights from my recent experience that transcend writing and touch on leadership. Drawing from my experience as a book writer, I’ve identified some key lessons on being an effective leader that I’m excited to share with you.
Over the past nine years, I’ve collaborated with many leaders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders as a ghostwriter to shape their narratives and amplify their insights. These collaborations have taught me some valuable lessons on leadership. Good leaders prioritize their teams and empower them to take ownership and achieve results. I discovered the power of adaptability and staying ahead of the curve. Being a ghostwriter, I realize that leading by example is crucial. It sets the tone for an integrity, authenticity, and accountability culture. All of which are lessons that can benefit any leader looking to grow and excel.
Overall, it started a chain of thoughts about some of the most important leadership lessons from my ghostwriting role that can help every leader along their journey.
Here are some highlights:
The Strength of Delegation: Playing it to your advantage.
Leadership is about recognizing and leveraging your strengths. When a leader approaches me about writing a book, they are showing strength and professional humility by delegating the task to me as a ghostwriter to get the job done. This strategic move can serve as an example throughout their leadership role. Many leaders, being astute and strategic, know when to delegate work that keeps them from advancing. If an author’s ideas are clear and their vision for their book is strong, they rarely have the expertise to craft the words as their strongest suit. Hiring a ghostwriter is a decision that exemplifies the leadership principle of knowing when to delegate.
What’s the true leadership lesson?
Being a leader doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself. Bringing a ghostwriter on board allows you, the business leader, to focus on the aspects where you excel, such as conceptualizing, while allowing the ghostwriter to structure the concept and do the physical writing. This collaboration improves the book and reinforces the importance of teamwork and recognizing individual strengths within any successful endeavor.
Keep it Short and Clear: Know your Audience.
The second lesson is the art of being concise and focused. Instead of writing a monstrous novel with 500 pages, I advise leaders to be concise and narrow down the concepts into a digestible narrative that resonates with the end reader. In a fast-paced world where time is limited and attention spans are short, writers should abandon the urge to write long books. Instead, focus on understanding your audience and allow your ghostwriter to craft a narrative that is concise, informative, and engaging, along with being practical, relevant, and succinct.
The leadership lesson here is to ensure your book delivers, but it also stands as a testament to the power of brevity and having your concept and direction nailed down. A crucial leadership trait is the ability to make complex ideas simple and actionable. A crucial characteristic of effective leaders is the capacity to stay focused on the key message. This lesson taught me to signify clear and concise writing, eliminate unnecessary words, and focus on engaging content. I kill my darlings with a smile, making sure every page helps the reader on their leadership journey.
End Perfectionism- Go for it and Advance
Being a perfectionist is common among leaders. Having it is great, but it can delay finishing the book. Being a leader means making tough calls and pushing forward, even when things are uncertain. One of my authors, who was almost done with the book, started second-guessing themselves and messed up by trying too hard to make it perfect. In the end, the book came to a screeching halt, and the experience emphasized the importance of valuing progress more than perfection. Being a leader and a writer means finding a middle ground between perfection and practicality in decision-making and progress. #Leadershiplessons
My biggest lesson about leadership is that writing a leadership book goes way beyond just being an author. Writing a leadership book must apply to everyone, emphasizing leveraging strengths, valuing brevity and clarity, and prioritizing completion over perfection. Keep these insights in mind as you navigate your journey toward effective and authentic leadership.
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If you are a leader and have a book idea, you would like to discuss, please get in touch and get on my schedule.
About Me
“My name is Jeffrey A. Mangus. I work with powerful executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and new authors who have incredible, life-changing stories and want to put it all into writing their business books or memoirs. Authors I work with have beaten adversity down, survived gut-wrenching challenges, and overcome them to reach the top. I love rags-to-riches stories that show tenacity, grit, and determination. I partner with individuals committed to motivating others, going the extra mile, thinking innovatively, and leaving a lasting impression.”
Professional Resume
Jeffrey A. Mangus is a 5x #1 Amazon bestselling ghostwriter and author with thirty-five (35) award-winning and bestselling books to his credit. Jeffrey has written for several major publishers, including: Harper Collins Leadership, Harper Collins Focus, Rowman & Littlefield, Tantor, Blackstone, Highbridge Audio, and Audible.