Gaining insights on historic economic events, innovative companies and business leaders who shape our world
We scan the newspaper daily, follow certain bloggers and learn the latest trends from trade magazines. We feel well informed and can use this knowledge to help make better decisions in both our professional and personal lives. However, sometimes it takes more than that to gather deeper insights, make sense of certain things, to gain some perspective. Sometimes we need to sit back with a good book.
The past seven years since the financial crisis have provided us with an ample opportunity and the necessity to gain a better understanding of the countless idiosyncrasies governing our global economy. Books including Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail, Michael Lewis’ The Big Short and Raghuram Rajan’s Fault Lines helped not only business leaders but the public masses sift through the chaos of the financial crisis as the dust was still settling and we were pushing towards a global recovery. Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography and Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace’s Creativity, Inc., the story of Pixar, shed light on building cultures rooted in creativity and pushing the limits of innovation.
The Financial Times’ “Book of the Year Award” highlights the impact that literature can have on business.
These pieces of literature cannot be substituted by tweets or cable news, and reading them can help us build our own professional skill set.
“Reading and learning from peers within, and outside of, your industry enables you to grow as an employee, business owner, and leader in three distinct ways” It reminds you of core concepts that you should be incorporating into business practices, challenges you to think differently and abandon prejudices, and gives you the opportunity to interact with others, connect with employees and stir healthy debate, Forbes notes.
“If you are a leader, you should be striving to develop knowledge to improve yourself, your company, and the people who work for you. To do anything less is to shortchange your ability to lead.”