I have always been a voracious reader of non-fiction. More specifically leadership, psychology, management, philosophy, self-help, communication, emotional intelligence, and anything I feel might generate an idea or many. For years I read books, articles, and listened to podcasts and would usually "note take" by always doing the same thing - either dog earring pages or highlighting quotes or thoughts that I felt I might need or want in the future. Upon completion, books would be placed back onto shelves and referenced from time to time whenever I needed a reminder of an idea that I had a vague thought about. To find the idea I would flip through multiple pages of a book until I found what I was looking for. Fortunately, this process became less time consuming after I first read Ryan Holiday's Ego is the Enemy. I became intrigued not only about Ryan's writing, thoughts, and opinions but I wanted to know more about the man behind the writing. I questioned how he consumed so many books and housed such copious amounts of information on a daily basis. Fortunately, Ryan seems to be willing to share because after signing up for his newsletter I discovered his use, and the power, of the "Commonplace Book". In short, when reading a book make notes. After completing the book, consult your notes, write them down on index cards, and then categorize them according to self-generated themes and then place the cards in an index card box that has been organized in your own way for easy future reference. For a more detailed description of this process please see the following link: https://ryanholiday.net/how-and-why-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/
So why blog about this? Well it has been my experience in coaching that many coaches don't read! The reasons, behind the choice not to read, I have heard are that (1) it is too time consuming to get through an entire book (2) there is not enough time during the season (3) many don't enjoy reading books and (4) many would rather read an article on an app or online if they are going to read anything. In contrast, one thing I have heard from coaches to supplement these reasons for not reading is the acknowledgement that ideas and thoughts generated from reading can prove beneficial. As a result, my mission is to provide a weekly update with a list of quotes, ideas, and thoughts from books that I have read or am currently reading. I may also throw in some examples of how I have adapted and used ideas in my own coaching so you can better understand how a little imagination can foster your development as a leader. This way, leaders who opt not to read can still benefit from some ideas from literature.
So why should I share these notes and ideas? I was once asked by a colleague why I am so open about what I have learned and why do I not keep these things for my personal use. I share because it is highly likely that I have already experimented with ideas found in books, I like the results I have seen from these experiments, and I feel these ideas can benefit others. After all, what good is knowledge if you aren't going to share it?
So, I'll be back next week with my first set of notes.
