Communicating what matters

How do we, as leaders, continue to grow? One way is by challenging ourselves, stepping away from the familiar, and leaning into the uncomfortable to stretch ourselves in some meaningful way. Doing so requires humility, a willingness to fail, and the courage to see learning as a lifelong pursuit. For over a decade, I′ve tried to do this by setting annual challenges, which have ranged from mundane (eating a green vegetable daily for 30 days) to ambitious (becoming a professional leadership coach) to downright foolish (quitting caffeine, 3 months that I still regret). Over the past year, I′ve focused on refining my communication skills. I′ve worked hard to develop my writing, paring down complexity as I expanded from the rigid structure of scientific manuscripts to more creative essays on leadership and mentorship. I also started to wonder how I might stretch myself further. Could I learn a new way to distill important ideas into messages that are both engaging and understandable? I′ll preface this journey by emphasizing that no one would ever mistake me for an artist. One day during middle school, I had to leave art class early. Worried that I might not be able to finish my drawing of a (lopsided) house before a contest submission deadline, I asked my teacher whether I could return after school to complete it. “Don′t worry, kid,” he said, “be thankful you′re good at math.” What a wonderfully hilarious, backhanded compliment. It was true, however. I was terrible at drawing. So, when I saw a post advertising Aubrey Hirsch′s 1-day workshop titled Comics for People Who Can′t Draw, I instantly knew I was this course′s target audience. Before I could lose my courage, I signed up. When the day arrived, I logged in early, nervous and excited. Hirsch began by explaining the value of comics. They′re accessible and engaging, which means we often share them within our networks, making them a potentially effective vehicle for disseminating concepts and highlighting problems. She then contrasted the joy she feels in drawing with the labor of writing. “The worst part about writing is the writing,” she jokingly said, conveying the frustration many of us experience when trying to pull together a manuscript. Her point also served as a reminder of how we often make communication more complicated than it needs to be. We need to make it easier for others to connect with what we′re saying. A few scribbles can tell a compelling story. That premise became the backbone of the course. When people say, “But Aubrey, I can′t draw,” what they often mean is that they struggle to create photorealistic art or the type of art they aspire to make, notes Hirsch. But, of course, everyone can draw. Not only is it easy, it's also a skill that we can learn and practice. The goal of a comic is to offer information and inspire emotion, and we can do both things without investing in any art talent. Drawing skills matter less than clarity around the message you′re trying to convey. For 90 min, we alternated between discussions and low-stakes drawing exercises. We sketched faces, simplified objects, and practiced saying more with less. The exercise that stuck with me the most was drawing an object three times with progressively less time to complete it. Hirsch implored us to focus on the essentials, providing the reader with the least amount of information while still producing a recognizable image. I had signed up hoping to become a better artist, but what I gained was something different. I still can′t draw the way I′d like; my stick figures remain awkward and misshapen. But that′s not the point. What I came to appreciate is that my quirks and personal style in drawing comics matter as much as they do in other arenas. Practicing isn′t futile; like most skills, drawing improves with effort. No one would mistake me for Louise Bourgeois or Joan Miró. For me, the real progress wasn′t in how the figures looked, but in realizing that they could still carry meaning (Figure 1). In healthcare, we often immerse ourselves in detail because the costs of failure are so high. But that tendency can also overwhelm our teams. Clarity provides a different kind of power by making ideas easier to understand, remember, and share. Precision matters, of course, but so does accessibility. Just like my drawings, our leadership messages don′t have to be perfect to resonate. My thanks to Aubrey Hirsch, author of GRAPHIC RAGE: Comics on Gender, Justice, and Life as a Woman in America (Split/Lip Press, 2025). The author declares no conflicts of interest.