What Do Leaders Read?

Replies

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  Kaustubh Katdare

  I think leaders read people more effectively than they read books.
  
  PS: I don't consider myself as a leader. But the books that've influenced me the most are: -
  
  1. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki . I've read all the books written by Kiyosaki.
  2. Screw It! Let's Do It! by Richard Branson.
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  Ramani Aswath

  No claim to be a leader.
  I have been a loner all my life. Books have been my companions since 1952, when I began major reading starting with H.G.Wells, Conan Doyle, Rider Haggard and many others.
  The list is long and diverse. They cover a wide field from Astronomy to Zoology. Of course some of them had a profound influence on me.
  
  Let me try to compile a list and post it here.
  
  One book that all readers should read is:
  "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler, the editor of Encyclopedia Brittannica, (Who else better to write on that topic?) It does help one to get the best out of anything one reads.
  Available here: (Non copyright)
  #-Link-Snipped-#
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  PraveenKumar Purushothaman

  #-Link-Snipped-#
  
  I will never say I am a leader, as I have a lot of things to learn. I am not a book "Reader" or not even a novel reader. But I wish to be. There are a lot of flaws in me, but let me stress on the good part for the others.
  

  • Planning things in advance.
  • Remembering stuff you have to do.
  • Never slack or procrastinate your work.

  Regarding the books, I would say:
  

  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
    
  • The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
    
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
    
  • Getting Things Done by David Allen
    
  • The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

  Not a right person to comment, but I have read all these books in bits and pieces! 😀
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  Rupam Das

  Looks like everybody tagged is certain of one thing: they do not consider themselves to be Leaders 😀
  Let me not over exaggerate of that.
  Now the question is what Leaders read?
  
  I read everything. Starting from Tintin Comics to Don Brawn, to Autobiographies( Ok I don't read Sobha Dey) ( Ps I do read and love Chetan Bhagat).
  
  But I really doubt #-Link-Snipped-# that you asked the question to know what we enjoy reading. I think your question was meant for what stuff leaders read to improve leadership skills.
  
  The most important thing a leader needs t read is :People! Yes, the most important part of a leader's training is how he deals with people and get the work done. Every member in a team/ organizations are different. A great leader is one who can spot the people who suits a particular task.
  
  Reading what some one might think, what he wears, his walking , talking and intellectual leanings is what make is a successful leader.
  
  You also need to read the surroundings. A keen observation can reveal if a person uses left as primary hand or his choices.
  
  Lastly a good leader is a very good reader of the situation. You are never a leader if you can not analyze current to draw a picture of future ( near or far).
  
  One of the reasons of my failures is I lag some of the above needed reading abilities.
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  durga ch

  I dont think I can lead/guide. Nevertheless, I do enjoy casual reading and I prefer reading biographies(auto or otherwise). The biographies I have read so far are iWoz(Steve Woznaik), Surely You are joking , Mr Feynman(Richard Feynman) and Einstein.
  I have few more biographies to read.
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  Kaustubh Katdare

  I totally forgot to mention the book iWoz by Apple Co founder Steve Wozniak. I strongly believe that every engineer should read that book at least once in a lifetime.
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  Saandeep Sreerambatla

  Ok. I have read many books. So as everyone mentioned leaders read people and also books.
  
  For me, Atlas Shrugged is like anything. Say geeta or bible or anything.
  
  For me it taught me how a leader should be , it taught me life. And i do read bhagavad gita . Every verse of it is so much of wisdom.
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  Ramani Aswath

  Books that made a change to my thinking:
  (Not in chronological order)
  How to read a book by Mortimer Adler
  I got out of a hopeless nicotine addiction (I used to buy a full 200 cigarette carton everyday) using this book: The Principles of Psychology By William James.
  I have read his other books as well.
  This book that I read in 1957 at Andhra 'Varsity was a game changer:
  Applied Imagination by Alex Osborn
  Subsequently bolstered by books by Edward De Bono. I have a full set of his books.
  
  The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan, the Inventor of mind maps.
  I use this technique routinely. I also have a collection of his other books on memory enhancement. Must for engineers.
  I have been an avid reader of philosophy also.
  Besides this there are hundreds more. I have read a huge number of SciFI books starting from H.G.Wells and a whole gang of classic and modern writers. Too numerous to list.
  All of Agatha Christie, Sexton Blake, most of classic Wild West books, a lot of modern American detective fiction, all of Mark Twain and other American and British humourists.
  Managed some old Tamil literature as well.
  To come to a different realm.
  I regard Baghavan Sri Ramana Maharishi as my Guru. I was born in a town near Thiruvannamalai, the Maharishi's place. Most boys born at that time used to be named after him as I too was. I believe that this ego Ramani has an existence only now. That is not the real 'I'. There is another 'I', which activates this ego but is beyond it and unaffected by the doings of this ego. That 'I' can only be found when this ego is destroyed. The means to do that has been simply enunciated by Baghavan Ramana in his "Who am I?"
  From childhood this book has been in my house. The original is in Tamil. This is too personal and I am not discussing this further here.
  It is available here:
  PDF
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  Jayaram Reddy

  Generally leaders will get easily bored in reading a book..
  They like to apply.
  They always think to implement.
  May be ancient indian epics really improve a leader's leadership quality.
  So they may read epics...😀