It’s guest post Monday! This post is written by Omar Negron who is the Co-Creator of www.PixPirations.com. A site created to share “Images That Inspire” all across the web. If you need some extra motivation and inspiration feel free to visit www.PixPirations.com and follow them on Twitter. If you would like to have a post featured on my site then click here.
Take it from the 33rd President of the United States of America, Mr. Harry S. Truman once said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” This idea can also be complemented by the notion that “earners are learners.” Believe it or not, successful people are those who always do what they can to keep on learning and growing. And one of the most effective ways to learn is through reading.
Why is it that Leaders are Readers?
Through reading, leaders gain enlightenment. Books are made to provide just that. Leaders gain valuable ideas, insights and intellect through reading. Books are a great medium to spread wisdom, especially those that were written by successful and renowned people themselves.
Through reading, leaders experience enjoyment. Reading enhances visualization, creativity and imagination. The more stimulated the mind, the more effective it becomes. Through reading, leaders are not only able to relax and educate themselves. They are also able to exercise their creative and healthy perception.
Through reading, leaders are able to enrich their minds. Leaders are thankful for the invention of books. They do not necessarily have to travel around the globe to learn different ideas and strategies, most often than not, they are able to find the answers simply by sitting down with a book on their hands. Books help leaders experience things and gain knowledge from those reading experiences.
Through reading, leaders are able to learn new things. Books allow leaders to enhance their learning potentials, mindset or understanding, as well as their skill set. Books, being able to pave way for self-learning and discipline, empower leaders to be able to reach their life goals.
How do they do it?
Now that you have read some of the benefits of reading, you might be wondering how leaders do it. It is very simple – they read as many books as they can. They manage to read books whenever they can. Most of them will have a book to read when travelling or even while standing in line for coffee. Instead of watching TV, they prefer reading a book. Leaders will always find time to read. It does not matter if it is just 30 minutes or less, so long as they are able to read within the day, they are contented. This discipline and dedication of wanting to keep on learning and growing is what makes them effective and extraordinary leaders.
What Books do they Read?
We have to admit that not all books are great books. And so, leaders choose what they read. The following are few of the books leaders are most likely to grab and read.
Change the Culture, Change the Game by Roger Connors and Tom Smith: this book narrates breakthrough organizational effectiveness by communicating to readers using easy to comprehend ideas. The authors are full of wisdom and this book will inspire any type of leader there is – it does not matter what corporate position they have.
Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results by Cy Wakeman: this book provides knowledge on how to be the type of leader who can influence and inspire colleagues to change the way they think about their job and their workplace.
The Seed by Jon Gordon: this is an inspirational book which will provide readers life changing insights as to how to discover passion, purpose and fulfillment at work and in life as a whole.
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne: this excellent book is vital for any type of leader or entrepreneur. This book provides strategic ideas to be able to see wonderful opportunities rather than stressful competition.
Remember start slowly getting into the reading habit by reading 10 pages of a great book in the morning when you wake up and another 10 pages before you go to bed. This strategy will work wonders because once you develop the consistency you will want to start reading even more pages and therefore reading even more books.
Questions: Are you being intentional about reading books? What books are you currently reading or recently read?
And often you find the main points of a non-fiction book in the first few chapters anyway.
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