Summary

Leaders are readers, and many readers are leaders, but there never seems enough time to finish the reading that helps us learn and grow as leaders. Holidays free up that time. How do we continue reading when we return home?

Trying to keep that holiday feeling going

I’m on a week’s holiday this week. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to relax in a tee shirt rather than uniform. I’m wearing socks that are not black and the heaviest shoes I’ve worn are made of canvas! I’ve taken opportunities to be quiet. I’ve had several walks along the beach where the only sound I’ve heard is the lap or crash of the waves (depending on the strength of the wind) and the happy splashes of our spaniel as he runs in and out of the water. I’ve stayed off social media and kept boundaries between my emails and texts and me. And I’ve read. I believe leaders are readers. I also believe many readers are leaders. So, I’ve caught up on several blogs and read a few books, which is more than I’ve managed over the past three months. It has been glorious!

I always return wanting to find ways to keep that holiday feeling going. I also return with new determination to stick to healthy habits, including ways to grow as a leader.

But soon the Out of Office is switched off. I’m ploughing through my overgrown inbox and dealing with issues that have arisen whilst I’ve been away. The diary seems full and there is always something to do. That holiday feeling soon vanishes!

Leaders are Readers and Readers are Leaders

What about my determination to grow as a leader? The one thing that brings good holiday habits back with me and that helps me discover new ideas and aids my personal enrichment is to read. I want to remember that leaders are readers, and readers are leaders.

There are hundreds and thousands of good books out there. I am determined to trade 30 minutes a day to help me keep learning. In my view, this is a much better goal than “x books a year” or even “x pages a day”. Why? Because we all read at different speeds and in different ways. Some of us can retain information we read; others need to make notes. The cumulative impact of spending 30 minutes less on social media or watching one less episode of your favourite TV show is striking, and it’s doable.

Stretching your thinking through reading is vital as a leader. And it might just banish those post-holiday blues too!

Photo by Angello Pro on Unsplash