I am a big fan of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. One thing these iconic leaders have in common is that they are veracious readers (Bill Gates reads about 50 books a year). Although I cannot even begin to compare myself to them, I do have the lifelong commitment to learn and grow intellectually while sharing my insights/knowledge with clients. At the end of 2020, I began to feel just a little stale. Upon thinking about it, I was not reading and learning as much as I did pre-pandemic. That needed to change this year. So this year I have masterminded, listened to Podcasts, attended some amazing online masterclasses and, yes, read one business book every 2 weeks.
As a leader, your company deserves the smartest, most knowledgeable individuals to guide the company successfully. The speed you grow as a company will ultimately be determined by the speed of growth of its leaders. I am sure a lot of you are motivated to learn, but if your motivation has waned just a bit, I encourage you to set some goals and step it back up.
How can you learn more in 2021?
Here are some sources/ideas to consider based on my experience and research:
- Peers in the industry
- CEO or leadership forums (such as Peer to Peer networks)
- Pursuing an advanced degree
- Online classes
- Webinars in and outside of your industry
- Create a reading list, and commit to a book a month
- Find a mentor
- Hire a Professional
- Read newspapers, journals and white papers
Buffet’s infamous reading habit is what he attributes as the foundational tool to improve knowledge. He is a voracious reader who spends 80 percent of his own day reading, and he suggests that anyone hoping to achieve similar success should read 500 pages per day.
One point Warren Buffet makes is that you have to allow time to reflect and think about what you are learning. Information is one thing; turning that information into knowledge that you can act on and leverage is another.
There are many other activities you can engage in to increase your knowledge, and these are just a few to get you thinking.
