What Are You Reading?
Something has occurred to me this year as I’ve been running our new Rebel Culture program for teams across the US. As I share quote after quote and data point after data point from books about intentional practice, team dynamics, building habits, making change, and so on, I always ask our partners if they’ve read the book I’m discussing.
In almost every case, not only haven’t they read the book, they haven’t even heard of it.
Which begs the question: what are leaders reading?
It’s possible they’re reading voraciously but just not reading the texts I’ve chosen. That’s possible. It’s also possible that they’re mostly or only reading fiction (which is certainly fun but definitely not making them better). Finally, it’s possible that they’re not reading at all (or barely reading).
My question for you is, what are you reading right now? Is it something that is challenging your thinking? Is it something that brings a new perspective? Is it one of the truly great books about productivity, achieving exceptional results, or owning everything that happens to you and around you, or is it, nothing?
People often say they don’t have time to read. This isn’t true. Yes, they may not have time to read twenty pages a day, but everyone has five minutes a day to read a couple of pages.
Recently, I read a study that revealed that 11% of the time we reach for our phones is in direct response to a notification.
Read that again.
11%.
Which means almost 90% of the time we reach for our phones it’s out of habit or boredom or just because. To be clear, I’m personally on the wrong side of this data. I often open up my phone and watch the same stupid reels I’ve seen fifty times. Why? Because it’s distracting and it’s easier than working hard. It’s easier than writing this email every week. It’s easier than banging out three pages of the book I’m reading.
Likely, like me, you’re leaving minutes on the table every single day. That’s time that you can be getting better instead of staying the same (or worse, getting worse).
Read one book a quarter to start. That’s four books a year. If you’re already there, read one a month. Listen to books on tape while you’re walking or in the car (I used to think listening to books on tape was cheating. I was wrong. It’s smart and productive).
You should enjoy down time. I firmly believe this. And, there are ways you can be pushing yourself that you’re likely not right now. One way might be reading. If it is, get to it.
