Are you speaking their language?
Make effective listening part of your communication strategy.
Taking notes is a listening style that builds your professional presence and influence. As you move up, your success depends on your ability to read the room and communicate strategically with executives. Instead of just waiting for your turn to speak, take notes on the specific words, priorities, and concerns your senior leaders mention most often.
When it’s finally your turn to give an update, use that same language to describe your work. Mirror the terminology of your leadership to show you’re culturally aligned and that you understand the high-level goals of the business, instead of sounding “out of the loop.”
Effective listening also means to pick up on what isn’t being said. Pay attention to which topics get people excited and which ones are quickly ignored. This tells you what the company truly values right now—which may or may not be what you personally find valuable or exciting. By aligning your daily efforts with these high priorities, you ensure that your work is actually being seen and valued by the people who have the most impact on your career. It moves you to work smart on the things that matter most to the organization.
Put these approaches into practice.
Let’s look at practical ways to take rigorous notes not just for tasks, but to capture the “language of leadership.”
“I used to talk about user engagement metrics, and I could see my VP’s eyes glaze over. I started taking notes during her town halls and noticed she always used the phrase ‘customer stickiness.’ The next time I presented, I swapped my terms for hers. She immediately leaned in and said, ‘Exactly! You really get our vision.’ I didn't change my data; I just changed the wrapper.”
DON’T use your own department-specific jargon or academic terminology when presenting to senior leadership.
DO take notes on the specific words and phrases executives use, then mirror that language back to them during your updates.
“I was putting 40% of my time into a legacy project I found exciting. After three meetings where the CEO barely acknowledged that project but grilled us on operational efficiency, I realized I was misaligned. I shifted my focus to the efficiency metrics. At my next review, my manager said I was ‘uniquely tuned into the company’s pulse.’”
DON’T assume that every project on your to-do list is equally important to the company’s current success.
DO pay attention to which topics get leaders excited and which are quickly ignored to identify the company's true high-value priorities.
“I used to think that not taking notes made me look like I was above the details. Then I noticed the COO always had a notebook. I started bringing mine and visibly writing down his key concerns. Later, when I followed up with a summary that quoted him directly, he told my boss I was one of the most ‘perceptive’ new hires he’d worked with.”
DON’T sit passively in meetings or rely solely on your memory, which can make you appear disengaged or unprepared.
DO use note-taking as a visible listening style that signals respect for the speaker and a commitment to accuracy.
“Our department head officially supported innovation, but in every meeting, she only praised the people who met their compliance goals. I realized that while innovation was the public goal, compliance was the private priority. By ensuring my innovative ideas always had a compliance-first angle, I stayed on her radar.”
DON’T take every instruction at face value without considering the cultural or political context of the room.
DO develop the skill to "read the room" by observing which initiatives receive the most social capital and resources versus which ones are sidelined.
“I loved working on our social media aesthetic, but leadership only cared about lead conversion. I forced myself to spend more time on the conversion data. It was less fun for me initially, but when I showed how my work directly boosted the revenue pipeline, I was given a seat at the strategy table. I learned that being valued by the company is more rewarding than working on a project in a vacuum.”
DON’T allow your personal interests or pet projects to distract you from the tasks that leadership values most.
DO align your daily efforts with the priorities voiced by those who have the most impact on your career trajectory.
In your next meeting, can you identify three “keywords” your manager uses repeatedly? How can you use those same words in your next status update?
Integrate these professional strategies into your workflow—whether you’re refining your own work or mentoring your team or clients.