Nothing could be as fairer as the observation made by Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States, that “Not All Readers Are Leaders, but All Leaders Are Readers”. The great leaders of yesterday and today love to quote President Truman’s mantra as their key to success. “Are today’s leaders readers?” is a question worth pondering upon.
Regardless of the discipline – be it politics, business, sports, entertainment and religion, the litmus test of every leader is the ability to motivate and help others and believe in a vision. A defining attribute of every successful leader is his tireless passion of books and readings. The United States of America has produced the greatest leaders in almost all walk of life, who have transformed and revolutionized the world in their own way. It is equally ironic that, as per a recent survey1, Americans in the age bracket of 20 to 34 years, on average, spends only seven minutes a day in reading. Agreed that reading time increases with older generation, however, still this trend is worrisome.
Four Es of Why Leaders Are Readers
The reasons why all the great leaders of the world are also readers can be summarized in four Es as follows.
1. Leaders read for their Enlightenment. Books can be termed as carrier of civilizations. They are an extraordinary source of wisdom, knowledge and ideas. Books rule the world and by reading books, one
can rule the world. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Elon Musk and many others are genuine examples of undisputed rulers of the world.
- Another reason why leaders read is Enjoyment. Reading is a pleasurable experience. It kindles your mind and engrosses your imagination. It charges you to pause, think, imagine and concentrate on out of the box solutions to novel problems.
- No one can live to have the experience of 1,000 years. But, the experiences of 1,000 or even 10,000 years can be summarized in the form of books. It is the Enrichment, which stimulates the leaders to read wildly.
- It is the quest of Enablement, which forces the leaders all over the world to read. It helped them to learn new skills, develop new understandings and revamp their mindset to meet the cut-throat challenges that life present them. It would not be out of context if I quote James Rohn, an American entrepreneur and motivational speaker, who famously said “Formal education will make you a living but self- education will make you a fortune”. In the long run, the ultimate purpose of reading is to grow and grow to new heights.
If you could spare enough time to surf on the internet over the habits of successful leaders or leadership skills, it is highly probable that you will find one fact common among all the list of habits or skills and that is reading. It is, therefore, no coincidence that some of the world’s most successful and paramount leaders are avid readers. Warren Buffet has aptly put it “Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It build up, like compound interest”. Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, reads 50 books a year. The idea of building rockets did not occur to Elon Musk through formal education. It was the informal education, or more precisely self-education, that stimulated Musk to build rockets. You too can read like a leader.
Also read: Can You Be A Good Leader Without Being A Good Follower First?
Making Reading a Daily Habit
You, being the members of Gen-Z, too can make reading as your habit number 1. Just make the following five ways and see yourself on the true path of great leaders.
Visit the nearby library
It is said that if you have a garden and library, you have everything you need. Gone are the days when libraries were considered relics of the past. Today, library are making a comeback. Libraries are the sources of inexpensive and easy access to the books.
Set a schedule
Consistency is the key to success. It does not matter whether you allocate 30 minutes or 3 hours of your day to reading. What matters is you consistently follow whatever you have set for yourself. By maintaining a discipline, you can devote the entire time to reading without any interruption.
Make books easily accessible
In this age of modern technology, no excuse can stands for not making the books accessible to you. Books are available in the gadgets of podcasts, chips and online services like audible and e-reading.
Read before you sleep
It was proved by exhaustive research that you engross more knowledge when you read just before bed. It is also easier to establish a regular habit of reading at this time.
Read at least three chapters
It is only natural that some books do no appeal you. However, it is always better to give every book a chance. If it does not work, then switch to another book. One of the attributes of successful people is their ability to prefer something over others. Discretion should be your hallmark.
Given the success mantra that leaders are readers, how US can afford a have a major chunk of its population, not interested in reading. According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Centre in 2019, almost 27% of US populace did not read a book in whole or in part in last year. If US wishes to maintain its competitive edge in the globe, it must inculcate a culture of book reading on war footing basis. Failing to do so, complacency will prevail and emerging world powers like China will outshine USA in terms of
cut-throat competition of global supremacy. Lastly, it is worthwhile to quote Mark Twain, who famously said “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read”.