Big Idea: Leaders Are Readers
It's amazing the ideas that arise when I'm on long drives through the countryside. In the Fall of 2018, while traveling to attend a board meeting of The Jeffersonian Institute in Jefferson, Texas, I heard a program on National Public Radio (NPR podcast). Thanks, Sirius. You're my lifesaver on driving trips, along with Audible. The program told the story of how communities of people, large and small, were reading together, uniting diverse groups and creating a common cause.
The broadcast (check out the link) sparked an idea. What if Mays Business School was reading the same book at the same time - students, faculty, staff and even former students. I pitched the concept to Bailey Urban, the energetic and vivacious leader of the Mays Transformational Leadership initiative, who was all over it. As was the case in the communities profiled by NPR, I told her that we (Mays) would buy the books and give a copy to anyone who was willing to participate in a discussion group.
The first group was small -ten members of the faculty, staff, and students met after reading "Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek. Following the positive feedback arising from this group, the program grew in size to two groups, who read "Shoe Dog," the story of Nike written by founder, Phil Knight, and "A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea," a memoir written by Masaji Ishikawa. As the book discussions grew, the positive buzz increased and the “reading together” initiative began to spawn a vibrant learning community of transformational leaders. This summer the "Leaders are Readers" program is tackling "Animal Farm," by George Orwell.
It just goes to show that a small spark can ignite a much bigger fire. It's so gratifying to see a seed of an idea germinate and take on a life of its own. Thanks, Bailey Urban, for modeling transformational leadership, nurturing an idea and changing lives. Who knows? Maybe one day the grand vision will be realized - everyone in Mays Business School reading the same (non-required reading) book and reflecting on their thoughts and inspiration.
Lessons learned are to continue to use my unscheduled time to stimulate my mind, to value the array of media sources like NPR that fuel my inspiration, to act on my ideas and to expect success.
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/07/20/cleveland-literacy-book-clubs-community
The broadcast (check out the link) sparked an idea. What if Mays Business School was reading the same book at the same time - students, faculty, staff and even former students. I pitched the concept to Bailey Urban, the energetic and vivacious leader of the Mays Transformational Leadership initiative, who was all over it. As was the case in the communities profiled by NPR, I told her that we (Mays) would buy the books and give a copy to anyone who was willing to participate in a discussion group.
The first group was small -ten members of the faculty, staff, and students met after reading "Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek. Following the positive feedback arising from this group, the program grew in size to two groups, who read "Shoe Dog," the story of Nike written by founder, Phil Knight, and "A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea," a memoir written by Masaji Ishikawa. As the book discussions grew, the positive buzz increased and the “reading together” initiative began to spawn a vibrant learning community of transformational leaders. This summer the "Leaders are Readers" program is tackling "Animal Farm," by George Orwell.
It just goes to show that a small spark can ignite a much bigger fire. It's so gratifying to see a seed of an idea germinate and take on a life of its own. Thanks, Bailey Urban, for modeling transformational leadership, nurturing an idea and changing lives. Who knows? Maybe one day the grand vision will be realized - everyone in Mays Business School reading the same (non-required reading) book and reflecting on their thoughts and inspiration.
Lessons learned are to continue to use my unscheduled time to stimulate my mind, to value the array of media sources like NPR that fuel my inspiration, to act on my ideas and to expect success.
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/07/20/cleveland-literacy-book-clubs-community
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