Why do luminaries seem to get idea after idea to drive their businesses forward? Part of the answer is that they know and understand that learning never stops. Many of these leaders are avid readers. Yes, they learn from books, but they also practice what is called leadership reading.
And as a result, it appears to the outside world that they have the Midas touch. However, it's not just about new ideas found on the pages of a book. It's also about new ways of looking at the world. And new perspectives they bring to old problems.
Leadership reading is not just for luminaries and senior level executives. Anyone can practice that type of reading if they understand what it entails. And when you get to the heart of things, anyone can become a leader. Even if it's leading yourself. Before delving more deeply into leadership reading, it would be helpful to define what it is.
Definition of Leadership Reading
“Leadership reading is reading with a bent toward making the page impact our lives. It is more than just pleasure, although it can be immensely enjoyable. It is more than reading a lot of books, although it will certainly take us through many volumes. Leadership reading is the active, intentional devouring of the greatest writings applied with earnestness toward the highest aspirations. It is a lifestyle habit that is open to everyone but taken advantage of by only a select few.”
Leadership Reading: Reading With Purpose
Leadership reading is reading with purpose. When you read a nonfiction book, do you take the time to write down why you’re reading the book in the first place?
In How to Read a Book, the authors, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren state that there are three reasons to read a book, which includes: Entertainment, Information, and Further Knowledge. When you define your purpose, it dictates how you read the book.
Leaders do not read the same way that average people do. Instead, they read to learn what they need to know. When they read a nonfiction book, they do so because either they have a problem to solve, or they have questions to answer. That means, they’re looking for specific pieces of information. When they find what they need in the book, they’re finished with the book. That’s just-in-time reading. And that’s why it’s so important to define your purpose for reading, so you know how to identify what you need to learn from the book. Because of the fear of missing out, most people feel compelled to read every page in a nonfiction book.
Additionally, that’s how we were taught to read — read every word on the page. But that type of reading no longer serves us adults. Traditional publishers have word counts. That often means that authors include too many examples and case studies to satisfy the word count. Russell G Stauffer, an educator, found that only four to 11 percent of the text on the page of a nonfiction book carries meaning. That’s about one sentence.
And if you factor in the 80/20 Rule for reading, that translates into, you can read 20 percent of a book and understand 80 percent of the text. However, the trick is to know which 20 percent of the text to read. And you can only know that if you have a purpose for reading, and you preview each nonfiction book first before you start to read it.
I've written countless times about how to preview a book. So, I'm not going to repeat the process here.
[Please read: Is Selective Reading Better Than Reading a Book Cover-to-Cover?]
Process of Leadership Reading
Change your mindset about what it means to read a book. Think of a book as a solution to your problem, and answers to questions you have. Now you’ve personalized your reading, so you’ll actively read the book, looking to satisfy your needs. Active reading helps you to evolve into a leadership reader. In the book, Turn the Page by Chris Brady, he says that readers are protégés and authors are mentors. He also recommends that you approach every book you want to read, with focused and targeted questions.
Have you read?
Turn the Page by Chris Brady, Book Summary
Usually, I recommend to readers and clients that before they read any nonfiction book, they need to formulate the questions they want the book to answer. And that’s a good thing. However, Brady says that what is more valuable is when the questions you have address important challenges the reader is currently facing in life, career, family, and business. That means, when reading any book, you keep your overall challenges and questions in the back of your mind for those serendipitous moments that you’ll also discover solutions and answers that you weren’t looking for specifically in the book you’re reading.
Reading Books to Achieve Goals
It’s that time of year when most professionals are engaged in goal-setting activities. Don’t wait for the new calendar year to start working on your goals. Think of what you can accomplish in the next three months. You can accomplish a lot more than you think. What challenges are you facing in your business? And what questions are you seeking answers to? In other words, what’s keeping you up at night? Use books to your advantage to:
- Achieve Personal goals.
- Reach professional goals.
- Solve actual workplace problems.
- Answer pressing questions.
Using myself as an example, I want to learn how to increase the number of subscribers to my membership site, the Art of Learning. I’ve read five books already that are off the beaten path. And one of them was about gym memberships, because I wanted to get ideas that could work for my learning membership site. It’s usually a good idea to see what’s happening in other industries and niches. I have to read The Forever Transaction and The Subscription Boom. I’m also going to look at books in relation to each other.
I’m not reading related books that most people are reading because I’m looking for fresh ideas and new perspectives. Chris Brady presents three types of learning in Turn the Page. And this will help you to read like a leader.
3 Types of Learning: Reading to Learn What You Need to Know
- Task learning: This is when you’re looking for specific answers while reading.
- Problem learning: The person is given a problem to solve or to figure out the answer to something by reading a book.
- Mystery learning: Takes you to a deeper level because no one is telling you what you are looking for or even if you're looking for something.
Continuing on with my example, I’m looking for answers about how to increase the number of subscribers to my membership site, so I’m engaged in task learning. I’ve given myself a problem to solve, so I’m reading books about membership sites. Therefore, I’m also engaged in problem learning. Additionally, I’m also engaged in mystery learning because the question of how to increase subscribers is always at the back of my mind.
In addition, I’m reading books on business models, so I’m likely to discover information that can help me to increase subscribers. The subscription model is a business model. Do you see how this works and helps you to engage in leadership reading?
You want to strive to engage in mystery learning. You’re a leader looking for a mystery, which is an idea that comes to you that can help you in life. When you look for mysteries, leaders argue with the author and themselves at a deeper level. And you’re not accepting everything you’re reading. You're thinking in powerful ways and probing more deeply. You recognize and overcome challenges and problems you didn't realize you had.
Leadership Reading: Going Forward
Leadership reading is strategic, and will save you lots of time because you’re reading with purpose. So, you can solve your problems and answer your questions. This type of reading also forces you to focus on what’s important to you. Are you willing to give this new type of reading a try?
If you need some help to get the process started, one of my Knowledge Accelerator programs may help you. I’ll be holding office hours, so you can ask me questions.
Please consider joining my membership site, the Art of Learning.
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