Have an Edge: to lead one must read!

In Philippines on a WrICE Residency 2017

One of the best preaching I ever heard is from a pastor at the dinner hosted in honor of Mr. Michael Waipo, the outgoing Commissioner of the Correction Services in PNG.

In the delivery, the good pastor talked about two principles of leadership: humility and trustworthiness. He added the third principle: teachable. A leader must be teachable, must be someone willing to listen, and learn from those who are subjects to his or her leadership and in turn he or she can also teach those who teach him or her. The good pastor added that for all leaders they must also be readers.

That is something I have not heard from anyone except myself saying over and over to many of my fellow leaders. To lead one must read. To be a good leader one must read the life stories, biographies, memoirs, and books or essays written by great leaders. How else can one be a good leader if reading is not factored into the leadership?

The important message I heard the preacher delivered in this dinner was that leaders must be readers as well as be teachable. Leadership without these elements ends up in poor decision making. Decisions that lack depth and full understanding of the world and its complexity are the result of lack of reading. How can leaders make reading an important part of their leadership milieu?

In Jack Canfield’s Principle 36 where he talks about learning more to earn more, the reminder to all leaders is that we must be teachable. In JC’s words “leaders are readers” and must “be teachable”.  Canfield recounts the story of self-made millionaire Dr. John Demartini who “made a list of all the Nobel Prize winners, then made a list of all the greats in those same fields—whether it was poetry, sciences, religion, or philosophy. He then proceeded to read their works and their biographies. Not surprisingly, John is also one of the brightest and wisest guys I have ever met. Reading pays off” (Canfield 2005: 256).

In Tufi with Dr. Andrew Moutu, Director NMAG & a leader who reads!

The key to reading is that some of the best ideas from the books we read get stuck with us—the readers as well. Canfield cites John Demartini in these lines: “You can’t put your hand in a pot of glue without some of that glue sticking…So, too, you can’t put you mind and heart into some of the works of these masters without some of it sticking. If you read about immortals, you increase the possibility of leaving an immortal effect. The results have been enormous for me.”

As a keen follower of JC’s The Success Principles, I have been reading as an important part of my life. I read as if I am taking food. If I go without reading I know I am empty in my mind. I feel it invites information and matter that are not supposed to fill the space created from non-reading.

I return to Jack Canfield every now and then because I have to pick up some of the principles that have worked for me in the past and those I will need from here onward. For example, I have missed this specific information on reading, but coming back to reading carefully, I discovered that “Jim Rohn, America’s foremost motivational philosopher, also suggested you use that 1 extra hour a day to read,” as Jack Canfield reiterates the point: “He taught me that if you were to read one book a week, in 10 years you’d have read 520 books and in 20 years more than 1,000 books—enough to easily put you in the top 1% of experts in your field. Add to those the books from masters in related areas and you’d have an edge that others don’t have.” (Canfield 2005: 256).

Have an edge that others don’t have is exactly the result of reading. Intelligent performance is the result of consistent reading that informs decisions that leaders make. Biographies and memoirs are excellent resource materials for leaders. Reading the biographies of leaders helps ground leadership in the road that leads to greatness.

If leaders want to be great they MUST become readers. How many leaders read books to lead? I sometimes wonder whether leaders make reading an important element of good leadership. It’s hard to have a conversation with a leader who has not read a book while in office. If reading was important leaders in PNG would buy books and building libraries in the country more than anything else.

“To learn and grow in life, you need to be teachable, too” is the reminder from Jack Canfield. “You need to let go of already knowing it all and needing to be right and look good, and open yourself to being a learner. Listen to those who have earned the right to speak, who have already done what you want to do” (Canfield 2005: 258).

In pursuit of "The Water Fall" on a beach in Tufi, Oro Province, PNG

It is true, if you ask me. This is precisely the importance of reading as leaders. Great leaders listen to those who know specific details and have specialized knowledge of what leaders need.  After all leaders need knowledge specialists to advice them on various aspects of what they want to do as leaders. If you cannot find them then read what others have done or have encountered. If you don’t then make time to learn something new or even go for training or get educated.

“But what I most recommend is that you read for AN HOUR a day. Read inspirational autobiographies of successful people. Read books on psychology, sales, finance, and health. Study the principles of successful living. And that is what I did” Jack Canfield 2005: 256).

Since reading Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles I have begun reading more personal development and motivational books. I have gone back to school to study law, and have read autobiographies, memoirs, and increased my reading list.

Some of the personal development and motivational books I have since read are:

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill,
2. The Science of Success Principles by Napolean Hill
3. Flight Plan by Brian Tracy
4. The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt,
5. Getting Things Done by David Allen
6. Your Road Map for Success by John C. Maxwell
7. Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
8. Real Leaders Don’t do Powerpoint by Christopher Witt
9. Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono
10. Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins
11. Secret of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
12. The Wow Factor by Frances Cole Jones
13. The Naked Ceo by Alex Malley
14. Jesus, CEO by Laurie Beth Jones
15. The One Minute Millionaire by Mark Victor Hensen and Robert G. Allen
16. It’s Not How Good You are, It’s How Good you Want to be by Paul Arden
17. How to Influence Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
18. The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
19. Getting Work Done by Harvard Business Review Press
20. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

With the media technologies available to us, you can also access the writers and teachers listed above through video posts on different media platforms.

Memoirs making my list of books read in recent times include:

• The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama
• Dreams from My Father by Baraka Obama
• Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung
• The Embarrassed Colonialist by Sean Dorney
• Island Home by Tim Winton

Of course I read The Bible every day, especially the Psalms, Proverbs, the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

I read fiction, poetry, and serious research papers and books in my field all the time. If I am not reading traditional paper based printed books I am reading electronic versions of recent publications in Literature and associated fields. I have access to these publications either through my office computer or through my hand held device—the mobile phone.