Why Read?

I just finished a great book called The Sender by Kevin Elko and Bill Beausay. It is based on a real life scenario where a person was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo multiple rounds of Chemo. During these 90 days of treatments, someone who identified themselves only as "The Sender", wrote a letter every day to the patient encouraging, challenging, and refocusing them. This book is full of amazing nuggets of truth that can be applied to your personal and professional life. Those nuggets I will share in a later post. In this post I simply address the question, "Why read?"

1. Readers are leaders
   There is a reason that all great leaders can quickly tell you the latest book they are reading. They understand the power of knowledge and how important it is to stay on the cutting edge. 
2. You don't know it all
   The world around you is changing. Your success will be based on your ability to create or adapt to that change. Smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise leaders learn from the mistakes of others.
3. Finally, you are not too busy
   I know of few people whose lives are more chaotic than mine at this point. To invest in yourself is not selfish, it is an investment that benefits you but also all who look to you for wisdom and guidance. Still, something has to give, so make it something that has little value. In my case that is TV. I read The Sender in two nights by simply turning off my TV and dedicating that fine to reading and personal development.

By committing yourself to read 1 book a month you are investing in yourself and all who are and will be impacted by your leadership.