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Leaders are Readers

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self -chosen ignorance.” – Confucius

The words of Confucius the Chinese teacher, editor and philosopher are true today as they were over over 2000 years ago. You cannot afford to remain ignorant in the rapidly changing world of today and that is why you must devote time in your busy schedule to reading.

James Allen in his book ” As a Man Thinketh” likened the mind of a man or woman to a garden that must be intelligently and intentionally cultivated or risk being overgrown with weed. Reading is one way to cultivate the mind and your ability to choose what you read helps you to stay in control of what goes into your mind.

I did not do much reading immediately after university. I am not sure I did much reading while in university other than what was required to pass my exams. Many years passed and all I did was go to work during the day and watch television at night. Television engages the eyes but does little to stimulate the mind. Yet many spend hours glued to their TV screens and computer monitors. Media statistics on television viewing show that the average person in the UK watches four hours of television a day, this includes time spent watching movies and other video clips on the computer. If you think you cannot find the time to read, how about reducing your television time by one hour a day.

The knowledge accumulated over several years by many successful people and captured in books was within my reach but I was not a reader and so for many years I continued to work hard at my job, making little progress and only able to learn from my own mistakes and those of the people around me. Then I came across this quote ”You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read”. Where do you want to be in five years time? I hope you are reading and acquiring the knowledge and skills that will enable you take advantage of opportunities tomorrow as they arise.

Today you have available to you an enormous amount of information, knowledge and wisdom all contained in books. That which took several men and women the whole of their lives labouring and sweating to investigate, learn and understand is now available to you in books. so make the time to learn and grow, become a reader and a leader.

And if you are a reader, then keep at it. The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more people you will influence and the more places you will go.

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3 Lessons on Your First Steps as a Leader

There are times in your journey when you know for sure where you are heading, but sometimes, you have to set off on a hunch without much clarity as to the destination.

We left the running of the worlds financial markets to people we thought knew what they were doing. Now we know better. A lot of these guys were fumbling their way around not having a clue of what was happening and hoping it all ends up well. It didn’t.

There is a story about a man who left the comfort of his parent’s house and set off on a journey to a far country. Today over 4000 years after he took the first step, the journey of Abraham continues in the nation birthed from his trusting his instincts.

What is keeping you in the same place? You must have heard it somewhere that you need a vision to start a business, you need to start with an end in mind or some picture of what the end looks like. That is very true. But at the same time the search for a vision could well be a part of the journey. All you need to know to begin your journey is the next step.

Here are three lessons from my journey so far:

1. Trust your instincts. You have to begin to train yourself to trust your gut feelings. This is that part of you that you cannot control and you sometimes do not understand. You can silence it or you can let it loose.

2. Take one step at a time. As the saying goes, “no one tests the depth of the water with both feet“.

3. Be flexible and be prepared to change direction at anytime. Someone once said, ” it is much easier to steer a moving vehicle than a stationary one.

The world needs leaders who are courageous enough to go forward despite not knowing what the future holds and are humble enough to admit it and change course when they are wrong. Don’t wait for all the lights to turn green, move on at the first green light.

Question:  Have you ever embarked on a journey without an end in sight?

[success] “Do not go where there is a path. Instead go where others haven’t gone, and leave a trail.” – Ralph W. Emerson [/success]