I think reading in general is important to development not only as a leader but as a human being; It wouldn’t be fair nor correct to make it exclusive to professional reading. It doesn’t have to be professional reading for you to learn or be presented with a new way to see the world. You can become a better leader through a variety of resources and information; aside from reading. I find being forced to read for the sake of reading; jamming unwanted knowledge down my throat, results in rejection on a fundamental level. I myself, as a reader, need to have a vested interest in the material and have adequate time to process, analyze, understand, and agree/disagree with the material. You should read, as a military leader, classics such as “The Art of War” but to truly absorb the material it needs to be intellectually and mentally stimulating and truly interesting. I’ve been forced to read things I disagree with completely and read things I’m naturally drawn to on my own time. There are benefits to both because both avenues expanded my mind and made me interested in exploring similar books or concepts. The books I disagree with make me see another POV I would likely never consider.

Essentially everything builds off of the other. Any small seemingly minor interest may make you look up some innocuous fact and that could lead you to more questions. Curiosity expands; growing like a tree branch and expanding out to cover more interests and more knowledge. Reading is important; but simply DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF – Fiction, Non-Fiction, ALT-History; if it interests you and you can learn something from it READ IT.