(Originally published in 2000; republished with minor changes in 2019)
Whether you are a full-time editor or simply someone who believes in the importance of editorial vigilance, you have a lot to gain by becoming a visible leader. Even if you’re not in a supervisory position, taking an active role in stressing the value of high-quality editing can improve your company’s products, boost the reputation of the editing profession, and often provide some payoffs in your career as well.
Depending on your company’s environment, not all of the following suggestions will be appropriate for you. However, I hope you can glean some ideas about how to unleash your leadership potential.
1. Volunteer for visibility: Bring your editing advocacy to the table — at meetings large and small. Speak up for accuracy and try to reach a compromise with participants who would like to eliminate or shorten the editing process because of deadline or budgetary concerns. You might not win many battles at first, but at least you will be planting the idea of the importance of careful editing.
Sometimes, you will encounter people who remain unconvinced. Try to win them over by acting like the important part of the team that you are. Offer to research an issue that has been problematic for many writers and then give a short presentation at a future meeting. Volunteer to update the style book. Help with the training of new editors. In my experience, these tasks can be seen as boring or onerous to non-editors, so your genuine enthusiasm will usually be appreciated. Also, the skills you gain in these tasks can help you land a supervisory position, if that is your goal.
2. Become a walking repository of style: If your company doesn’t have a style book, start one, even if it’s just one page at first — these things grow quickly.
Deliver it in multiple formats (for example, intranet, e-mail attachment, blog post, and hard copy) if possible and make sure your co-workers know that they are free to suggest possible changes or additions. If your company already has an in-house style book or follows an outside style exclusively, become an expert on it. Read it, use it, make “cheat sheets” for yourself. Keep up with all changes.
The benefits of style books are many. They can reduce time-wasting debates among coworkers and make products much more consistent and readable. In addition, transforming yourself into a style guru can go a long way toward making you invaluable to your company.
3. Make your desk a reference library: Get your hands on as many reference books as possible and make them available for lending. College bookstores can be a good source of the latest grammar textbooks or style guides.
Find the best online resources and share your list frequently with your organization. Besides improving your own work and that of your co-workers, this strategy can quickly make you the “go-to” person at your company for anyone who has questions about editing and writing.
4. Fight for the reader/user: Because they often see documents with a fresh eye, editors can be in a unique position to aid readers or users. By urging clarity in every document, you can show your managers that you’re a valuable part of the production team. Let them know that you’re interested in the bottom line and feel that low-quality editing can lead to diminished sales as the reputation of your product suffers.
5. Don’t be a stereotypical “nitpicker”: Particularly in your initial dealings with writers and other co-workers, tread very carefully. Loudly taking a writer to task over a missing comma won’t win you any supporters. Neither will cornering someone and forcing him or her to listen to a rambling discourse on run-on sentences.
There is a time and place for coaching, and to be an effective leader you must find it. You will quickly learn who is reluctant to have their work edited and who embraces your suggestions in the spirit they are offered. For people who are suspicious of editors or have had negative experiences at other workplaces, it might take a long time to begin to trust you. Respecting writers’ ideas and content will go a long way toward persuading them to begin turning to you in matters of style and consistency. The resulting teamwork may greatly increase your company’s productivity and enhance its day-to-day environment.
6. Keep up with the outside world: When you’ve worked for the same company for a while, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. Be sure to talk to other editors (STC meetings or conferences are a good start), maintain a strong social-media presence (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and so on), visit editing-related Web sites, and stay connected to the editing world through your alma mater or former colleagues.
And most important: Share some of the information with your co-workers. You can be sure your readers/users will be grateful.
Marcy Pack manages the editorial QA and multimedia design team at UL (in the Nashville area), producing online safety and health training (eLearning). She has been at UL for 9 years; previously, she worked as a newspaper journalist, technical editor, and freelancer. She can be reached at wordsmith8@yahoo.com.