Readership: Read to Lead.
Introduction – Leadership
The world we live in is filled with a lot of folks who assume they can lead by just creating a system where they have followers under them. The word Leadership goes beyond having a staff of leadership, is about having the heart, the knowledge of what you are doing and the skills of doing leadership.
One of the profound author and leadership coach John C Maxwell will describe Leadership as this He rightly states that knowledge alone doesn’t make anyone a leader, but then nothing does offer any such guarantee. This is because influence is an impact, an outcome, not an input. Influence is in the eye of the beholder. Thus a young person can have a leadership impact on others with a good idea if it moves them to think or act differently.
Reading Culture
How do you make a leader? What are the ingredients of a true leader?
Answering the above questions will give you vast answers but in the heart of all the answer is KNOWLEDGE and this can’t be overemphasized.
Show me a reader and I can tell you he or she may be able to lead if trained properly. Reading culture is an essential character trait, a leader must possess and it is a culture that we all should imbibe.
The way to develop a culture is to start by doing it for 21 days and from there to 3 months and boom you are at it
Self-Development through Books
Leadership and Self-development goes together and you can’t lead without knowledge and skill set for leadership. You can get trained but personal commitment to development starts from you.
You need to burn the candles, sleep late and wake up early, shun some social events and embrace the one that will profit your development goals.
Reading book is one major way you can get yourself improved as a leader or a prospective leader. I believe we all are leaders but we only need to be developed to lead and good books are key to our personal development.
Books like Outliers- The story of success by Malcolm Gladwell, will open your mind to how practice brings out the better you and not what you do when you are better. You can travel with Gladwell also in his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and you will be amaze how little thing can cause big effect. The small decision you are about to make, can turn you to a better leader.
Leadership is not inborn, is built by knowledge and training, reading will make you and help you lead well.
What does reading do to you as a leader
1. It makes you think better - Reading is one of the most efficient ways to acquire information, and leaders need a lot of general information to keep perspective and seize opportunities. But reading does more than give us a toolbox of ideas. It actually upgrades our analytical tools, especially our judgment and problem-solving abilities.
2. Reading improves your relational skills ( if you have read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie) - Stories give us an opportunity to walk in other people’s shoes and see the world through their experiences and with their motivations
3. Reading helps you master communication - When we read, especially widely and deeply, we pick up language proficiency that transfers across the board, including speaking and writing.
4. Reading help you relax and balance stress that may come from leadership pressure –
5. Reading make you stand out - If you want to lead, you simply must read. It’s one of the surest ways to develop the qualities that will make you stand out and simultaneously equip you to lead as your influence grows.
Tips on knowing a good book
You may want to try some recommendation sites like
1. Penguin’s Classics
2. WhichBook
3. Goodreads
4. The Book Seer
You can also do the following
1. Going to bookstores.
2. Talking to the staff at the bookstores or libraries.
3. Asking friends or family:
4. Study literature.
5. Going to book fairs.
Thank you for listening My name is Mustapha Kayode
