Reading is your job

When speaking with MBA students I am often asked what the essential qualities of an effective President or CEO are, and what can be done today to prepare for that role in the future. One insight I like to share is that an effective CEO must be humble, logical and enthusiastically curious. Further, that this curiosity must not be fleeting but grounded on a disciplined commitment to reading.

A CEO is not a specialist. Even though most come up through the ranks in a specialty, such as in Sales, Operations, Human Resources or Finance, a CEO’s job is essentially general in nature.  That is why the army calls them Generals.  Many excellent specialists cannot make the transition to this role because they cannot break out of their specialist mindset. They cannot transition from operational to strategic thinking. In the words of Marshall Goldsmith: What got you here, won’t get you there.

I came up through the ranks in Operations and found the transition from expert knowledge to general knowledge to be surprisingly uncomfortable. Moving from certainty to probability left me feeling somewhat exposed.

Being a generalist requires a different set of skills. It requires humility, a broad knowledge base and logical decision making. Humility fosters the ability to listen, a broad knowledge base brings pattern recognition and logic enables good decision making. Of the three, acquiring a broad knowledge base is the easiest to start as there are few barriers to developing a structured and disciplined approach to reading.

Since it is impossible to be an expert in every business discipline, it is imperative to broadly expand one’s general knowledge through continuous learning. There are multiple vectors to acquiring such knowledge via either conferences, organisations or the consumption of speciality media. The problem lies in finding the time to draw upon such resources.

In my view, reading is still the most efficient way to broaden business horizons, however, it is also the easiest to supplant in favour of pressing engagements.  This is why developing and adhering to structured reading regime is so important. Like any project of continuous improvement, it requires both regular scheduling and an unwavering commitment to ensure execution. Reading, like exercise, is an essential part your job and prepares you not only for future advancement but also for the roles, which are more generalist in nature. Simply said, one must make time to read.

My process consists of using a good general business journal and forcing myself to read every issue cover to cover. I use the Harvard Business Review, but there are many other fine publications available. I read every article, not just the case studies or executive summaries. In my experience, what I have found to be the most valuable are the articles for which I have either no natural inclination or prior affinity. If I am honest, those are the articles that elicit a groan and which require additional concentration. Like the coming of spring, it is in these circumstances that my mind starts to grow and my best learning occurs. These articles not only trigger new and innovative thought patterns but also lead to further investigations into topics of which I am generally unfamiliar, thereby increasing my ability to become a better-rounded generalist.

Acquiring this discipline at an early age both expands intellectual horizons and helps develop the generalist mindset. It allows one to become conversant in broad range of topics and to synthesize how the individual parts interrelate and connect to the whole.  Most importantly, it fosters the ability to ask pertinent questions in unfamiliar circumstances, which, to me, is the quintessential skill of an effective CEO.