Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. ~Harry Truman

I read two things this week that caused me to pause and reconsider how I prioritize my time. The first was the introduction to a book I just started entitled How to Have a Good Day by Caroline Webb. Her writing combines three behavioral sciences: neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics. But what stood out to me was her statement that she has read over 600 books on these topics to provide the foundation for her writing. Secondly, a friend posted a link to a recent blog post by best-selling author, Philip Yancey, where he confesses his personal crisis: a loss of “deep reading” while surrounded by his own library of more than 5,000 books.

I enjoy reading, but every now and then, I benefit from a reminder of the leaders who continually commit a significant portion of time to reading. Or as Charles Chu suggests below, they create a fortress around their priority for reading.

I recognize that the portion of Yancey’s post that I’m about to quote goes beyond what would be considered appropriate by APA or Chicago Style standards. So I’ll also highlight the link to his full post if you’re up for some “deep reading” of your own: http://philipyancey.com/reading-wars.

YANCEY: Neuroscientists have an explanation for this phenomenon [short bursts of reading on the Internet]. When we learn something quick and new, we get a dopamine rush; functional-MRI brain scans show the brain’s pleasure centers lighting up. In a famous experiment, rats keep pressing a lever to get that dopamine rush, choosing it over food or sex. In humans, emails also satisfy that pleasure center, as do Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat.

An article in Business Insider studied such pioneers as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg. Most of them have in common a practice the author calls the “5-hour rule”: they set aside at least an hour a day (or five hours a week) for deliberate learning. For example:

Bill Gates reads 50 books a year.

Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks.

Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day.

Mark Cuban reads for more than three hours every day.

Arthur Blank, a cofounder of Home Depot, reads two hours a day.

In the last two years, Charles Chu has read more than 400 books cover to cover.  Willpower alone is not enough, he says. We need to construct what he calls “a fortress of habits.”  I like that image. Recently I checked author Annie Dillard’s website, in which she states, “I can no longer travel, can’t meet with strangers, can’t sign books but will sign labels with SASE, can’t write by request, and can’t answer letters. I’ve got to read and concentrate. Why? Beats me.” Now that’s a fortress.

In a blog post by Chu, he says, “In the time you spend on social media each year, you could read 200 books.” Reducing social media time could be a start to creating a “fortress of habit” around reading.

Because if you want to lead, read, read, read.

When you laugh you’re vulnerable, opened up, allowing the other person to affect you. There is the energy of being connected, and that really changes your point of view, your focus. ~Alan Alda

I’m guessing that nearly everyone has heard of Hawkeye Pierce, a character in the long-running sitcom M*A*S*H. I have a specific M*A*S*H memory from college. In my sophomore year, I was in the concert choir and we were preparing for a tour over spring break so the choir director had scheduled extra rehearsals. It just so happened that one of those rehearsals was scheduled at the very same time as the final episode of M*A*S*H. Despite everything in my personality that drives me to be on time, responsible, do the right thing, follow the rules, etc. I decided, rather quickly even, that I was going to skip this rehearsal and watch the final M*A*S*H episode. Ironically, when the choir director heard that even Kathryn was going to skip out, he decided not to fight the issue and canceled rehearsal!

M*A*S*H clearly had an impact on me, and likely others, especially regarding how people work together. Alan Alda—who I still view as Hawkeye Pierce—in addition to acting, directing, writing, etc. has founded two organizations to help people improve their communication skills. Alda has recently authored a book entitled If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?

In an interview (HBR, July 2017), he describes an exercise the M*A*S*H cast practiced that he now uses with others, including organizational leaders.

Alda: We discovered it by accident. Usually in making a movie or a television show, when you’re not needed to play a scene, you go back to your dressing room. But during M*A*S*H we would sit around in a circle and kid each other and go over our lines together. The sense of group was fortified all day long. The laughing was important because when you laugh you’re vulnerable, opened up, allowing the other person to affect you. After that when I did a play, I wouldn’t make it an overt ritual, but I would try to work it so the cast was in the habit of sitting and laughing together, and the performance became just an extension of that playful experience. When the other actors came out on stage, I’d already established a relationship with them. There was the energy of being connected, and that really changes your point of view, your focus. You’re not lost in your own head. It makes a big difference in any encounter, whether it’s in your personal life or in business.

Spending time together and laughing?! Really? Yes, really! I so appreciate Alda’s observation that “when you laugh you’re vulnerable, opened up.” I know many leaders who fear being vulnerable (and there’s a reason, but that’s for another blog post). These leaders tend to think of vulnerability as admitting mistakes, sharing personal challenges, etc. Well, for them, there’s another means of being vulnerable: laughter!

On more than one occasion I’ve witnessed the “energy of being connected” through laughter. I ask leaders, along with their teams, to do some rather crazy things, but there is a reason. I’m trying to create laughter. Because laughter is vulnerability, vulnerability creates connection, and the energy of connection can change your point of view.

What can you do, this week, to encourage laughter in your organization?

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. ~Zig Ziglar

Have you attended (or maybe organized) your organization’s “town hall” meeting? Maybe it’s annual or quarterly, typically part updates and part pep talk. How did it go? For how long did the “motivational” pep talk stick?

I’ve seen leaders treat motivating like an event. A periodic occurrence packed with information and the assumption that everyone is fully motivated and will sustain that motivation until the next “event.”

As Ziglar said, motivation needs to happen daily; fortunately, there’s a proven formula to guide us.

Thanks to the extensive research from husband-and-wife team, Jacqueline and Milton Mayfield, at Texas A&M International University, we know the 3-part formula to motivate. Whether you’re speaking to one or 101, the formula is the same.

It’s a balanced approach that includes three parts: direction giving, expressions of empathy, and meaning making.

Direction Giving. Use what is called uncertainty-reducing language. This means you need to be precise about what they need to do and how they will be evaluated. In other words, what they need to do (specifically), how they are to do it (specifically), and how they will be evaluated (specifically). This doesn’t mean you can’t empower people to determine how to do something on their own. It does however mean that your expectations for what needs to be done and how it will be evaluated, are crystal clear. The level of specificity will depend upon both the person(s) on the receiving end as well as the task.

Expressions of Empathy. Show concern for them as a human being. You don’t need to relate to them (say how you’ve experienced the same thing). You need to tell them that you recognize what they are feeling or experiencing. Acknowledge. Appreciate. Affirm.

Meaning Making. Tell them why it’s important. Link the organization’s vision, mission or purpose to the goals of the individuals. Describe how their work is truly making a difference in the lives of others. How they are part of something bigger than themselves.

I’ve spent enough time working with various behavioral style assessments to see that practicing all three of these elements may not come naturally to everyone. There is probably at least one of the three that you’ll have to consciously think about in order to be certain it’s included in your next pep talk.

You may want to ask a few colleagues whose judgment you trust to tell you if you are hitting each of the three elements sufficiently. As an example, you may think that you’re giving precise direction about what others need to do, but those on the receiving end may have a different perspective.

Want your next pep talk to really stick? Then include three parts: direction giving, expressions of empathy, and meaning making.

Moment of choice: Pause. Clarify. Decide. ~FranklinCovey

All leaders have probably been there at some point in time. That moment when you are overwhelmed with the weight of the world, the uncertainty of the future, feeling lost and not knowing which path to take next, etc. When you are faced with a moment of choice.

Richard Leider shares a skiing analogy in Repacking Your Bags that illustrates the importance of that moment of choice. Leider says we can learn from a well-prepared skier when hit with an avalanche of snow. Seasoned skiers know that you can’t out-ski an avalanche so you should stop and quickly remove your skis. If you are buried in snow with your skis still on, you’ll become anchored under the snow with minimal possibility of digging your way out.

When the snow stops moving, first, create an air space around your mouth by clearing away the snow and cupping your hands. Then spit! Why spit? So you know which way is up. You can depend on the law of gravity to tell you which way to start digging. It’s not unprecedented for skiers buried in an avalanche to become so disoriented that they actually dig themselves deeper in a fatal attempt to extricate themselves.

There are several points here. First, take off your skis—let go of the things that are weighing you down so you have a much better chance of digging yourself out. Second, a very simple step, spit. This can be the difference between being buried alive and digging in the right direction. Find out which way is up before you put all of your energy into searching for your escape route.

So what might the “spitting” metaphor look like? Maybe consulting others who’ve faced similar circumstances. Talking with others who are doing what you would like to be doing, whatever that is. Reading advice from experts. Finding time and space to clear your head. Asking yourself if you really know the facts, and if not, finding the true facts.

Our culture, influenced greatly by technology which provides us with instant gratification, has taught us to react; in fact, in many cases probably depends upon us to react. If we were to pause and metaphorically “spit,” we might make a decision that contradicts our initial reaction.

Many leaders get so caught up in the perceived need to act quickly (feeling the weight of an avalanche) that they don’t first “spit” to determine if they are moving in the right direction.

Are you buried in an avalanche? Or maybe you see the avalanche coming your way. Pause. Spit. Then start digging. Or, as FranklinCovey recommends: Pause. Clarify. Decide.