138 - Powerful Policy Writing to Maximize Engagement with Lewis Eisen

In today’s collaborative workplaces, outdated “command and control” policy language feels completely out of step. Instead of encouraging cooperation, it often creates resentment and disengagement.

That’s why Lewis Eisen, author of Rules: Powerful Policy Writing to Maximize Engagement, has been challenging the traditional way organizations write policies. Drawing on his background as a lawyer, IT professional, and senior government policy advisor, Lewis shows leaders how respectful, plain-language policies can inspire genuine cooperation, strengthen employee engagement, and reflect organizational values.

On this episode of The Workplace Communication Podcast, we’re talking with Lewis Eisen, author of Rules: Powerful Policy Writing to Maximize Engagement, about how to move away from rigid, adversarial wording and instead create policies that employees want to follow. You’ll learn how language choices shape culture, how to separate policies from procedures, and why policies are a key part of your organization’s brand.

Leadership tips you won’t want to miss:

🎙️ Recognizing how “command and control” language sends messages of distrust

🎙️ Shifting from “you must” to “we” language that fosters cooperation

🎙️ Defining policies as organizational boundaries instead of adversarial rules

🎙️ Treating policy writing as part of your brand and employee experience

🎙️ Identifying the most common word to eliminate for more engaging policies

Lewis Eisen combines his experience practising law with 20 years in consulting and 17 in policy writing in the federal government. His Amazon international bestseller Rules: Powerful Policy Wording to Maximize Engagement. came out in 4th edition this spring and his approach to drafting policies using respectful language has been adopted at organizations around the world.

If you’re looking to create policies people actually want to follow, then this episode is for you!

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🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://lindsaylapaquette.com/podcast/

For a full written transcript of the episode, please see the show notes at the link above.

Lewis Eisen’s contact information:

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