Letters From Leaders

If you're a leader of any stripe, your communication matters deeply

The Writing Master by Thomas Eakins, 1882 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)

“Anyone who idolizes you is going to hate you when he discovers that you are fallible. He never forgives. He has deceived himself, and he blames you for it.” — Elbert Hubbard, 1901

Did you ever send a fan letter to someone?

Maybe you were just a teenager with a crush on a TV star. Or a Sherlock Holmes fan who addressed a letter to 221B Baker Street. Or perhaps you were a member of the ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic fan club: Close Personal Friends of Al.

Did you get a response?

If you wrote to that TV star, you might have gotten back an autographed headshot.

For a number of years, if you wrote to Sherlock Holmes, you received a reply from a secretary that Abbey National had employed just to answer his correspondence.

And while Weird Al may not be the best correspondent, he creates opportunities to engage with his biggest fans (or “Close Personal Friends of Al”) at V.I.P. sessions at his concerts and wherever else he find…