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on July 19, 2020 in Books

It has often been said, and rightfully so, that leaders are readers.  In former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis’s book Call Sign Chaos: Learning To Lead, he passionately expresses his views of the value of gaining knowledge and wisdom from books.

I highly suggest if you do not already own this book, you pick up a copy.  You can do so by clicking HERE of the image provided.

Utilizing quotes from his book, the following are 16 Benefits All Leaders Get From Reading (Studying) Books:

  1. Books Allow You To Learn From The Experiences Of Those Who Came Before You – “Before going into battle, you can learn by asking veterans about their experience and by reading relentlessly.”
  2. Books Accelerate Your Understanding – “By studying how others have dealt with similar circumstances, I became exposed to leadership examples that accelerated my expanding understanding of combat.”
  3. Books Are Gift From Those Who Set Aside Time To Write – “Reading is an honor and a gift from a warrior or historian who – a decade or a thousand decades ago – set aside time to write.”
  4. Books Are A Conversation Experts Have With You – “He distilled a lifetime of campaigning in order to have ‘conversation’ with you.”
  5. Not Reading Books Is Unethical – “We have been fighting on this planet for ten thousand years; it would be idiotic and unethical to not take advantage of such accumulated experiences.”
  6. Not Reading Books Makes You Functionally Illiterate And Incompetent – “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”
  7. Not Reading Books Has Permanent Consequences For Those You Lead – “Any commander who claims he is ‘too busy to read’ is going to fill body bags with his troops as he learns the hard way.  The consequences of incompetence in battle are final.”
  8. Books Make You A Better Leader – “The Commandment of the Marine Corps maintains a list of required reading for every rank… At no rank is a Marine excused from studying.”
  9. Books Solve Problems – “During planning and before going into battle, I could cite specific examples of how others had solved similar challenges.  This provided my lads with a mental model as we adapted to our specific mission.”
  10. Books Enhance Your Grasp On The Present – “Reading sheds light on the dark path ahead.  By traveling into the past, I enhance my grasp on the present.”
  11. Books Strengthen Your Weaknesses – “I read broadly and selected a few battles and areas where I was weak to study deeply.”
  12. Reading Books Teaches You A Better Way To Do Business – “The problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience (or by your men’s experience), i.e. the hard way.  By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a better way to do business, especially in our line of work where the consequences of incompetence are so final for young men.”
  13. Reading Books Can Keep You From Being Unprepared – “Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before.”
  14. Books Give You A Real Understanding Of History – “Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face NOTHING new under the sun.”
  15. Not Reading Books Is A Disservice To Those You Lead – “Our leaders going into this fight do their troops a disservice by not studying (studying, vice just reading) the men who have gone before us.”
  16. Books Are Full Of New Ideas – “If we needed ‘new ideas’ to help us construct our plan, old books were full of them.”

So, are you challenged enough to read books?  If not, I’ll just let you deal with Secretary Mattis.  I think it would just be easier to read.  Here is a list for you to choose from:

Need another suggestion?  My book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders is available for purchase.  If you have ever wanted to become the leader God created you to be, this book is for you!  By combining leadership lessons from biblical heroes like Jesus, Daniel and Joseph, along with modern day leaders like Bill Gates, Nick Saban, Kobe Bryant and multiple pastors, Timeless will equip and inspire you.  This book is not to be read alone.  Discussion questions are included in each chapter allowing you to develop those in your circle of influence.  Click HERE or on the image provided and order your copies TODAY.

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