Mind Your Grammar: Why Leaders Should Sweat the Small Stuff in Communication

“Than is a conjunction, not a preposition!” (Not strictly always the case!) My late mum’s voice still echoes in my head, decades on. As children, my siblings and I were held to the highest grammatical standards, verbally, in writing, and even in casual conversation. At the time, it felt excessive (what ten-year-old knows or cares about conjunctions?), but I now realise it was a gift. Grammar, to my mum, wasn’t just about rules; it was about respect, clarity, and being taken seriously.

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And perhaps because of this upbringing, it’s become a bit of a bugbear for me. I physically recoil when I see basic errors in emails or social media posts, especially when they come from senior figures. The odd typo? Fair enough. But persistent misuse of been instead of being, or your welcome instead of you’re welcome, triggers a visceral response. Why? Because it speaks of either a lack of understanding or, more worryingly, a lack of care.

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When you’re in a leadership role, how you communicate matters. It matters a lot. Your words carry weight. People look to you for clarity, inspiration, direction, and credibility. Poor grammar chips away at that. It creates unnecessary distractions and, rightly or wrongly, invites judgment. If a CEO/COO/Owner can’t get the basics right in a company-wide email, what else is being missed?

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Now, I know that grammar pedantry isn’t everyone’s 'hill to die on'. Some argue that content is all that matters, and if the message lands, who cares how it's written? But the thing is, in today’s digital world, most of our leadership presence is written. Emails, Slack messages, LinkedIn posts, reports, proposals, they’re often the first and sometimes only impression people get of us. If those messages are sloppy, inconsistent, or riddled with mistakes, it does impact trust and perception.

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The irony? These are often the same leaders who obsess over font choices in presentations or spend hours word-smithing mission statements. Yet they’ll dash off an internal update or a social post without a second glance. No sense check. No proofing. No one to ask, “Does this read well?” The result: communications that fall flat, or in my opinion, damage credibility.

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So, does grammar matter? I think it does. It’s not about perfectionism. It’s about professionalism. It’s about the respect you show your audience, whether it’s your team, your customers, or your peers. And for leaders, it's also about modelling standards. If you don't care about how your words show up, why should anyone else?

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I’m eternally grateful to my mum for instilling that attention to detail. It taught me that how we say something can be just as important as what we say.

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I’d love to know your thoughts. Are we right to be bothered? Or is it an old-fashioned take in a fast-paced world?

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PS - Another thing, I will never sign anything in biro, it has to be ink! There you go.

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- Antony