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.”