This is why joining a book club is the best thing you can do
If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, what’s one of THE best things you can do to grow your business? And why?
There’s probably no single answer to that question. I am sure there are more than a handful of keystone habits that might help you get the traction you need. Experience, however, has taught me that, when you first start out, the biggest problem is a lack of domain knowledge and experience. Though that may sound like I’m stating the obvious, it has a deeper, not commonly appreciated implication: you also don’t know what you don’t know. Or as former Secretary of Defense, Don Rumsfeld famously said, you will face many “unknown, unknowns.”
The double negative is no riddle, it’s really just common sense.
No matter how prepared you think you are at the outset, unless you’re all-knowing and all-seeing, you will have critical gaps in your knowledge or skills, huge gaping blindspots from lack of experience, and no way of anticipating every pitfall along your entrepreneurial path. Usually, the remedy is severe. It takes whole lot of time, money and, yes, failure, to figure out the layout of the maze and start making more of the right moves.
Is there a way to speed up the process (save time) and minimize unforced errors (save money)?
Why, yes there is!
Join a book club and become an avid reader.
Here are 13 great reasons why this is so powerful and how it can change your life:
-
Pick the brains of those who know.
Top experts, researchers and thought leaders have accumulated a wealth of data and real world experience which they distill into book form. By reading their work, you not only get a panoramic view of an area of entrepreneurial interest but also invaluable insights that can save you time, money and unnecessary aggravation, if used wisely.
-
Learn from the mistakes of others.
Some authors are very candid about the trouble they got into on account of their early ignorance or inexperience. Let their tales of woe serve as cautionary tales lighting your own path. You can identify a pitfall without ever having to make the mistake yourself; you can learn in a few minutes what took others many years of suffering to get right. Not a bad bargain, if you ask me.
-
Learn from your peers.
Where’s the fun in reading a book alone? When you read it with a group of peers, you gain access to the valuable insights of others, which will enrich your own understanding of the information. And when there are contrasting points of view among the group, it forces you to think more deeply about your own conclusions. Reading along with other, equally curious and committed readers, is a simple but magical way to get even more value out of the book you’re reading.
-
Boost your brain.
According to professor Anders Ericcson, top performers in any field are able to do what they do—hit a baseball traveling at 100 MPH, play the violin, or play chess against 5 opponents simultaneously— because they have the benefit of rich and nuanced mental representations. These mental models, also called mental maps, allow experts to see clearly how to achieve the outcome they seek. Reading books helps you enrich that process. With every new volume and idea, you can form a richer mental model of your area of expertise, giving you more power to create the outcome you want. The key is not just reading, but putting the learning into action which will deepen your understanding of the nuances and friction you'll face in the real world.
-
Be inspired.
Let’s be honest. Sometimes the going gets tough and we just want to give up. In those moments, the right book can provide a much needed respite, or a reframing of your challenge, which can rekindle your passion and help you achieve a breakthrough.
-
Stay motivated.
Sometimes we get stuck on a difficult problem, but what easier, better and more affordable way to solve that problem than by reading a book that addresses the challenge you're facing? Even if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for, the very act of researching possible solutions is enough to give you a sense of agency, illuminate new lines of attack, and help you move forward again.
-
Gain confidence.
The more you know, the more confident you feel in business. That confidence helps you to make more effective decisions and increases your chances of producing good results.
-
Be a better leader.
The smarter and wiser you become, the more visionary you can be as a leader. You’ll be more capable of charting a smart course, and communicating why it’s the right choice. You will also be able to teach others and become a trusted advisor to all the people around you, multiplying everyone’s value and effectiveness in the process.
-
Impress your kids.
Want to know the key habit you should be helping your kids practice to prepare them for the future: reading for pleasure. Yes! Kids who read, because they enjoy it, do better in school, on standardized tests, and as well-adapted adults. There is simply no better gift you can bequeath to your children than to model the behavior of reading for enjoyment, buying books, and keeping books in your home. As you already know if you’re a parent, no amount of preaching is a match for the behaviors you model for your children. Why not model the habit of reading for fun?
-
Make more money.
The more you know, the better positioned you will be to make all the right moves and grow your business the right way. Read to succeed may sound like a tired cliched. It isn’t.
-
Practice life long learning.
In a world undergoing massive, disruptive change, who will do well? The answer is simple: those who embrace change and practice lifelong learning. Lifelong learning makes you adaptable and ready to acquire whatever skill is necessary in order to thrive. As jobs, careers, or even entire industries disappear, this adaptability will be worth gold.
-
Learn to predict the future.
The more broadly you read and learn, and the richer your mental maps become, the more able you will be to connect the dots; to see things others don’t; to predict, with more accuracy than others, what the future will hold. This gives you a massive advantage, and although this skill takes time, it’s something you can start honing, today.
-
Have fun.
Book clubs are also social, even gastronomical, affairs. They’re a great way to network, catch up with friends and share a good laugh over a bite. Our CEO Book Club even generates a sense of camaraderie as we all embark on a reading journey, together. I don’t know about you, but all this sounds like a lot more fun than reading all by your lonesome, doesn’t it?
And there you have it. Thirteen lucky reasons why joining a business book club is the best thing you can do for yourself and for your business. Did I miss anything? What other good reasons would you add? Which, if any, do you disagree with?
And what are you going to do about all this?
Did I mention we have a FREE CEO Book Club at Accelerate South Dade?
Hummm…