Leaders Don’t Need To Read

Mike Circa 2002 Kandahar, Afghanistan

Recently I was preparing for a leadership presentation to talk with future senior officers. In preparation, I asked some friends, peers, and colleagues what some leadership myths they have heard that they don’t agree with. There were some well thought out responses and a few humorous ones. There was one thought that sent chills down my spine and made me cringe that someone would think this. 

“The belief that leaders are readers. This individual went on to explain, “I’ve never read an entire book in my life, and I feel I’m a good leader so therefore this is false. Leaders don’t need to read.”

I’m going to be honest, just typing that and re-reading it made the bile come up my throat. What this leader is saying is that they have no more lessons to learn, no new experience that will make them better prepared, educated, or can offer a perspective that will fundamentally change their stance on a subject. While this leader might not read, they do need to write a book and show us all how they achieved the pinnacle of intelligence. This is sarcasm but before I go on, let me backtrack a bit. 

If you have listened to an AIP podcast or read our blog, you will have heard a reference to a book of some kind. This comes because the team gives a ton of credit to our abilities because we are feverish about our reading, listening, and perspective gaining habits. None of us believe we “run the show”, because everyday we learn something new and are ALWAYS IN PURSUIT of a better version of ourselves. At best, Mrs. AIP and I orchestrate some of the day-to-day business, but the true talent and intelligence lies in the team itself. Because all of us are smarter than one of us. 

This comment came at a shot to my beliefs. I grew up in Montana, not the nice part. Where you drive and drive and when you see nothing but the end of the earth, you keep driving. Small town, small dreams, and surrounded by people that didn’t care about the rest of the world because to them, it was uncomfortable and scary so it was better to settle for mediocrity then to challenge themselves. Child books were my escape and I would hole myself up for days with fantasy, autobiographies, and travel books. I was constantly in a different place and time. I couldn’t wait to meet the adventures the world had to offer head on and see if I was man enough to persevere. Books have continued to be my bedrock because I quickly realized how little I knew and to make it, I needed to educate myself. 

Frankly, a mentality outside of this is foreign to me. It doesn’t make sense and the level of arrogance is scary. Surely this person doesn’t believe that they have it all figured out and that their intelligence surpasses the millions of world-famous leaders that can’t go 10 minutes without references to something they’ve read. 

I’m constantly looking for the best in people so I can’t believe that to be true. Instead, I believe it’s an excuse because they don’t want to dedicate that time to reading or maybe reading isn’t easy for them. This is understandable and time is constantly something we don’t have enough of. I also struggled to learn how to read and had to take special classes in school because for 3 years, I was behind my peers on reading and comprehension tests. 

The dangerous part to all of this is that this leader seemed proud by the fact they didn’t read. This means that others look up to them and could possibly think they need to follow suit in the thought that reading is a waste of time and they can be successful without it. 

They could, they can be a “leader” without reading. The answer to that question remains but can they be a great one? I spend a lot of time talking to leaders at all echelons and I can’t think of one that doesn’t reference something they have read that has fundamentally changed them. 

This is just the start to this story; it has become my purpose to show this individual that they are a leader but they could be an extraordinary one if they made a habit of consuming books. The world is changing everyday and something new is implemented that will set the foundations that will change our way of life. We will not know how to respond without knowledge of the past, present, and projected futures by experts that have dedicated their lives to quantifying the unquantifiable. 

Please read! Your future subordinates are looking at you. You will face events in the future that you haven’t experienced and while you are amazing in your ability, there is something somewhere that will arm you with knowledge that will catapult your ability.

I hope this adds value to your life 

-Mike