It’s not particularly helpful to advise people to “be a good communicator” or “do good work,” without giving some sense of HOW to do such things. Such advice is just a platitude that fails to produce action. When I come across that sort of thing in a blog or book, I tend to move on pretty quickly.
But in some cases, there’s an easy fix to that advice. Add the phrase “give yourself permission to…” at the front of the sentence. That often turns it into something much closer to a helpful insight.
“Give yourself permission to be a good communicator” could be helpful in an environment where death-by-PowerPoint is an acceptable standard for giving presentations, and where things like energy, enthusiasm, creativity, humor, personality, or other marks of effective communication are viewed with suspicion. This is particularly common in organizations that value technical aptitude over so-called “soft skills.” In organizations like that, people might even believe “you must not be very technical if you’re a good communicator.” In those cases, It could feel risky to give a good presentation, and so encouraging people to give themselves permission to develop and exhibit soft-skills.
Incidentally, soft skills are actually super hard, in every sense of that word.