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The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Wednesdays Number 97: How to Read to Learn What You Need to Know
Dear Reader,
The rapid changes taking place around us, and the busyness of life, necessitates a new way of doing things. One of those things that has to change is the way you read. It’s not about speed reading. Instead, it’s more about reading like a leader. The most successful leaders read nonfiction books to learn what they need to know. What do you need to know? What challenges are you grappling with? What problems do you have to solve? Or what questions do you need to answer?
A new calendar year is less than two months away. And one of the things professionals say is that they want to read more books. By February, they’ve forgotten that reading more books was a priority. The problem is the way you read. There is no reason why any professional needs to read a book cover-to-cover. Because you’ll seldom find any nonfiction book that needs that kind of attention, and investment of time.
You have to be judicious when selecting books to read and which sections of a book to read. In the Ask Avil section, I’ll explore more deeply how to read to learn what you need to know.
Join my Facebook group Reading Rocks: Read a Book, Discover Solutions, Change the World.
Ask Avil
Reading to Learn What You Need to Know
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.
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.
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.
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.
Use books to your advantage to:
- Achieve Personal goals.
- Reach professional goals.
- Solve actual workplace problems.
- Answer pressing questions.
Leadership reading – reading to learn what you need to know – 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?
Reading List
Reading multiple books at the same time didn’t work for me. I found it very stressful. I think I might have over-complicated things. It wasn’t a fluid process. For instance, I was thinking about how many pages I needed to read in one book before I switched to another. I think that the process should have been more seamless.
If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know. I’m going to try again, but try to take the pressure off. Because I was so focused on getting it right, I read a lot less books. I suffered from performance anxiety.
Reading List
- The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, and Craig Walsh
- Self-Leadership by Ryan Reed
- The Leadership Gap by Lolly Daskal
- Love Leadership by John Hope Bryan
- Brave Leadership, Kimberly Davis
- How Women Rise, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
- Business Model Shifts by Patrick van der Pijl , Justin Lokitz
- Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward
- The Invincible Company by Alexander Osterwalder , Yves Pigneur
- Love-Based Business Models by Shawn Driscoll
- Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith, Book 1
- Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith, Book 2
- Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
- The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher
- Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton
- Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business by Amos Schwartzfarb
- Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great by Carmine Gallo
- I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream by JT McCormick
- One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do by Phil Howard Cooke
The Invisible Mentor Blog
Blog Posts
Leadership Reading: Read to Learn What You Need to Know
Career Skills to Learn to Succeed in the New World of Work
Resonate by Nancy Duarte, Book Summary and Review
The One Problem
I’ve published 36 podcast episodes already. Some topics are in books I’ve read. So, I’m thinking of adding the podcast videos to book summaries where appropriate. I think this will add more value for my readers and clients.
- Dr Marsha Carr, Professor, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
- Gabriella O’Rourke, Business Consultant, Borden Ladner Gervais
- Stefanie Booker Atchison, Wisdom Coach & Motivational Speaker
- Michelle Griffin, Founder Brandthority, Building Your Personal Brand
- Donna Knutson, Founder of Write Journeys
- Sophie Gray, Founder of DiveThru: Being Disconnected from Yourself
- The One Problem Interview with Lois McGuire, Author
- The One Problem Interview with Roberta Liebenberg, Senior Law Partner
- The One Problem Interview: Angela Payne, Founder Leed HR
- The One Problem Interview: Rose-marie Fernandez, Founder Coaching Worx
- The One Problem Interview: Reverend, Dr Cheri DiNovo
- The One Problem Interview: Hillary Sobel, Lawyer
- The One Problem: Janet Zaretsky, BS Brilliance Master
- The One Problem: Julie Foucht, Art of Feminine Marketing
- The One Problem: Evelyn Jerome Alexander, Magellan College Counseling
- The One Problem Interview with Rosalin Krieger, The Unstucker
- The One Problem Interview: Tetyana Dudnyk, Director, Technology Project Management Office
Product Alert
7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge
This is an affordable program to get started on leadership reading. Leaders read to learn what they need to know. You’ll also learn how to synthesize information.
Art of Learning Membership Site
How would you like to access the best, most useful information I have, that’s better than book summaries? Buy monthly access to the Bookish Note that’s behind my paywall. I group Bookish Notes together by a common theme, turning them into a course. Imagine reading themed Bookish Notes and starting to lay the foundation for a new skill.
Until Next Week,
Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!