Books Can Lead the Way
by Miki Saxon
Books on leadership, management and associated subjects abound. Jim Stroup has a great post on the dangers of buying into the books written by academics. Jim points out that many academics do do valuable work,
“But when you pick up a book by an academic, look for a sense that the author feels he or she is examining a species of being (you and me) that is not meaningfully self-aware. Such an author may interact with us while conducting research, but will not assign any validity to our own assessments of what we do or why. We are expected to cede that to him (or her), the scholarly expert, whose role it is understand and explain. Ours is merely to learn as best we can, sufficient to be able to comply with the scientific prescription for our suffering – and that with submissiveness and gratitude… Do not let yourself become vulnerable to an academic coup. Keep the scholars in the campus.”
Although I agree that countless academics have taken this approach over the years, I find the attitude not that much different from many of the business “leaders,” consultants, and gurus (self-proclaimed or otherwise) who write how-to and how-I-did-it books.
There are a few gold nuggets in almost everything written, but there are no silver bullets.
And, valuable as it is, reading takes time, so your goal should be to find the highest value for the lowest time/energy cost, which means that reviews and referrals are a good way to go.
But you need to keep certain things in mind,
- nothing will have value if it isn’t at least synergistic with your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™)
- consider the source of a referral or review first;
- Google the book and read several reviews;
- remember that reviewers review through the prism of their own MAP; so
- trust your MAP and your reactions to what you hear/read.
Finally, never forget that you don’t have to finish a book you start—I promise that no thunderbolt will strike. If the book is a chore to read it’s unlikely that you will derive enough value to warrant the cost of reading it.
Please! Share your favorite business books here.
Your comments—priceless
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Image credit: gabrielayb CC license
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I totally agree with you. I have an emerging library of books mostly on leadership and self improvement. I don’t I could just read one book all the way through until I started another one. I think that’s the purpose of having a library is to be able to pick and choose the ideas you want to investigate and learn from.
Some of my favorites that I have read all the way through are:
The E-Myth by Michael E. Garber
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Winning with people by John C Maxwell
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Hi Dwayne, Thanks for stopping by and adding to the conversation. It’s great that you’re building a library and I’ll share something something I learned years ago.
I use two colors when I highlight ideas, etc. One color is for the smart stuff and the dumb stuff (obviously, this is very subjective). It helps me find what I like later, but more important is the ratio between the colors. That helps me know how synergistic I am with the author.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Hello Miki,
I agree that the problem identified with academic authors is found among – even mimicked by – others. Your advice about how to deal with this problem is all the more important for that.
I love your highlighter idea in your previous comment – outstanding!
Thanks for this excellent post, as well as for your gracious reference.
August 26th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Thanks, Jim, and thanks also for stopping by. The highlighters work well, but I have trouble finishing a book if the first few chapters are mostly the dumb color. Sometimes I want to color entire pages and even chapters dumb. I usually don’t finish and probably miss the gems at the end.