by Jonathan Jones
A way to have an impact on your culture is to encourage reading. As a leader, if there are certain books that you think is important for people to read to work at your company, share the books and have conversations reinforcing them.
Some cultures expect their leaders and future leaders to read. They assign classic business books such as Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive, Jim Collin’s Good to Great, or Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. These books and others help promote a leadership style with the company.
I have a very successful CEO client that has continuous learning as part of his values. He expects all his employees and new hires to read as he believes this is key to success. He seeks employees who are success minded and encourages success principles that everyone can use. He starts with the classics, such as How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and The Laws of Success in Sixteen Lessons by Napoleon Hill. People who have read these books tend to be promoted, not because they read the assigned books, but because they applied the principles at work and get results.
Consider encouraging a company or department book club as a lunch and learn group. The group does not have to be led by management. The attendees will be determined by the topics, whether it is leadership, culture, sales, marketing, or general subjects. A monthly book is a reasonable timeframe, but determine what works well for the group. Members are more likely to stay in the group if they have a choice in the books. An occasional “off topic” book helps to encourage new ideas within the company.
Reading can help your learning organization become a growing organization.
Jonathan Jones (Jonathan.jones@vistagechair.com or 314-608-0783) is a CEO peer group chair/coach for Vistage International.
Submitted 4 years 298 days ago