Great Leaders Read All The Time
Sep 16 2012
They (i.e., Harvard Business Review) say that great leaders read all the time. That is certainly true of many great leaders (e.g., founder/CEO of WholeFoods) but there are great leaders who probably don’t have the time to read especially with family and work responsibilities, and I think they get some of their information in other ways (i.e., short bursts of knowledge that they have to assimilate over time). There are tons of not-so-great leaders out there and admittedly they aren’t avid readers. They have a hard time empathizing with others because they haven’t broadened their knowledge base by relating to other people’s stories from different parts of the world.
When I was working on the series of articles on success, I noticed that most of the leaders I interviewed were very well read and a handful had liberal arts, psychology, or humanities degrees. You can certainly tell when someone is well read, not just in the latest business trends but also in works of fiction and other great classic literature by the way they interact with people. I wish I had time to read more novels. I can’t even seem to make it to my neighborhood mom’s monthly book club!
Here are a couple of interesting but short reads:
The Secret Behind Creativity – discusses ideas on how to be creative
MBA Mondays: Guest Post From Dr. Dana Ardi – from Fred Wilson’s blog. A guest post by someone Fred respects in the world of HR, culture building, and recruiting/retaining great talent.
Reading is exercise for the brain. Many people go jogging and work out, but never work out their brains. Thanks for the post!
Sadly I don’t have a great deal of time to sit down and read traditional books…but luckily I spend a good amount of time in my car where I am able to listen to tons of audio books. If you’re strapped for time nix listening to the same songs on the radio when you’re driving and hit your library to grab some books on tape. I usually fly through two to three audio books a week. And I don’t have to squint or worry about paper cuts!
@Wordwide Boat – Yes, exercising the brain is just as important as exercising the body. Just like there is junk food, there is also junk TV/distractions!
@Charles Daniels – I wish I had more time to read also. I haven’t been able to get into audio books. I have my kids in the car usually when I’m driving any length of time and my mind easily wanders when I’m driving. It’s harder to relisten than to reread a sentence/page for me. 🙂