Great Managers Read Books

Long ago someone asked me what helped me grow the most as a technical leader. My answer was immediate: reading books about management.

I started reading these books only after I exhausted my network of advice on how to manage effectively. I noticed people borrowing ideas they learned from books, and eventually, I started buying some of these books myself.

Reading books on management¹ provides a few advantages:

1. Centers your perspective away from the immediate problem.
2. Removes hidden biases from your assumptions.²
3. Broadens your language for describing complex situations. I can’t stress this one enough: developing ways to label interactions and situations can be a big help– it’s also what people expect from a great manager.
4. Reading is random-access and happens at your pace. No matter how good a note-taker you are in a management training seminar, it’s no match for being able to skim a chapter from an established author and slow-read an important section.
5. It is cheap. If you think $40 is a lot for a book, consider the cost of management training or coaching.³

Finally, I find books to be great center points for discussion with others to tackle shared challenges. Rather than reacting to each other, reading and then reacting/discussing the ideas in a book together can be a great way to begin collaborative discussions, as well as build a shared understanding.⁴

All of the above is great, but it will only happen if you develop the habit over time.

That part is up to you.