Interaction with
movie goers about a “Classic” movie elevates in them the yearning to hunt and
watch it, at any cost. However, in case of “Classic” books, we will have to
agree with noted author and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens (*) “Classic' - a book which people praise and
don't read.”
The challenge
in persuading an individual, verbally, to read is comparatively easy against
the effort required in writing down the importance of reading. Convincing
through an article requires listing down of instances i.e. leaders, drawn from
business fraternity, and their passion for reading.
Occasionally
this difficulty of writing about reading gets simplified when one accidentally
reads article like “For those who want to
lead, read” by John Coleman (appeared in HBR blog network). The author has
stressed the benefit by cataloging business luminaries and their avid reading
style. Following paragraph from the article, justifies it:
“According to The New York Times, Steve Jobs had an "inexhaustible
interest" in William Blake; Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his
library that in it you have to take off your shoes and bow; and Harman
Industries founder Sidney Harman called poets "the original systems
thinkers," quoting freely from Shakespeare and Tennyson. In Passion & Purpose, David Gergen notes that Carlyle Group
founder David Rubenstein reads dozens of books each week. And history is
littered not only with great leaders who were avid readers and writers
(remember, Winston Churchill won his Nobel prize in Literature, not Peace), but
with business leaders who believed that deep, broad reading cultivated in them
the knowledge, habits, and talents to improve their organizations.”
The above
paragraph will surely instill the importance of reading books, which are unrelated
to our every day professional engagements. Further, it takes to a journey i.e.
“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point
of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety,
ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”
A C Grayling, Financial Times (in a review of A History of Reading
John Coleman
has listed down few tips to develop the habit of reading and enriching oneself.
To read more follow the link:
(*): pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens is
Mark Twain.
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