Do great business leaders just happen to be really good at leadership? Or have they just read more leadership books than other people?
Well, we can all agree that learning the theory of how to do something and actually putting it into practice are very different things.
Many people find that what they learn in school and university doesn’t count for much when they enter the world of work. The belief that there’s no learning like learning ‘on-the-job’ is widely held. Particularly by people who messed up their A levels!
And this is true. However, to implement on-the-job learning you have to start with some theory, whether this is learned from observing others, coaching or reading books on leadership and influence. We believe success in this field is a combination of reading good leadership books, gaining advice from trusted mentors, refining it, and putting all of that into practice on a daily basis until it becomes a habit.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.
Why do People Read Leadership Books?
At Involvement, learning how we can work better together is something we do all the time. An important part of our culture is to try to improve the way we do things by one per cent every single day.
For us, each day is a learning experience. This is exactly the reason why so many people read leadership books. They understand the importance of learning and implementing marginal gains to improve their performance.
Is Studying Business Leadership Books Something we Recommend?
Yes, of course it is. Some of these books are truly inspiring. But be warned, you are highly unlikely to find one or even three or four books that are going to give you everything you need.
Quite often, from each business leadership book you’ll pick up maybe just one great nugget of wisdom that will stay with you. But a few books under your belt and some great ideas lodged in your head, you’ll be equipped to have any manager or boardroom at your feet!
How Reading Leadership Books will Boost your Productivity:
Another big thing here is recognising that business leadership is not confined to people with Manager or Director in their job titles. Everyone’s a leader. We believe that every single person at Involvement can and should take the lead in doing what they do as well as they can – for them personally, and for the organisation as a whole.
It’s thinking like this that enabled us to empower more colleagues to make decisions, by giving them ownership. This ultimately increased productivity across the business and led us to some great achievements including being crowned the UK’s Employer of the Year.
When people have ownership there’s less roadblocks, they can move faster and increase productivity.
Of course, colleagues need to be coached appropriately to ensure they are ready to take on ownership. This is where leadership books come in and can provide highly valuable insights. They’re a fantastic practical tool for coaches and coachee’s alike.
Why Should I Focus on Leadership?
There are many different types of self-help books on the market but leadership books are by far the most popular. This may be because leadership is the hardest thing to learn? Or because there’s so many different takes on it. None the less, you’ll probably never run out of books about leadership.
This immense amount of books on this highlights the significance of it. This is because leadership can be demonstrated in any role. As stated above, everyone is a leader, whether that’s as a manager, as a parent or working within a small team, it’s an incredibly versatile skill that will help you in any aspect of life.
Our Most-Read Leadership Books:
Here are our top 3 to get you started:
You may have heard of the ‘Golden Circle’ this powerful concept is introduced in this book which makes it a must-read for anyone interested in this area.
Thomas Erikson – Surrounded By Idiots.
A great insight into using the DISC profiles methodology to understand human behaviours.
Stephen Covey – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
An incredibly popular insight that presents an insight to embedding key principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity.
