My 2019 reads and some takeaways

I just about scraped in on my 2019 target of 10 books; a vast improvement on my last few years where I had gotten stuck with book summaries and other bite sized content. Among these 10 books, Audible (audio books) overwhelmingly won the battle against Kindle and the Paperback. So if this really counts as a successful 10 book reading year is still up for debate, but I will take it for now.

The sheer joy of reading (or listening) to a full book is something incomparable to the quick-fix of a podcast or book summary. The intensity of a captivating chapter or the frustration and suffering of a slow and dragging one is all part of the journey of the books. I don't regret the extra hours this has taken up in 2019. I am better of for it.

I ended up with this collection entirely by chance. Some were gifts, some were searched for and some just ended up in front of me. Either way it was a good collection to have gone through this year. Here are some of my key takeaways from this collection;

Leadership empathy is a clear winner: Both Satya Nadella's Hit Refresh and Firms of Endearment focused on the increasing need to lead modern organisations with heart as much as with strategy and numbers. Satya's ability to integrate his personal family circumstances with his work world to connect at a deeply personal level stood out for me. We need more empathetic leaders in many more organisations. Firms of Endearment analytically argued on the superior financial returns of the companies that lead with purpose and heart. Concept of moving from share of wallet to share of heart and managing stakeholders holistically (see below) vs. shareholders are concepts I resonated with greatly.

There are multiplier and diminisher behaviours in all of us and we all can get better at it: There are diminishing leadership behaviors in even the best of us. In Multipliers Liz Wiseman simplifies some of the multiplier and diminisher behaviors we all need to be conscious of. 5 characteristics of the multipliers are that they 1) see genius in others; 2) create intensity that requires best thinking; 3) extend challenges; 4) debate decisions; and 5) instill ownership and accountability. The concept of the right stretch and debating decisions more stood out for me.

Energy and focus required to win: One of the best business books shared from a founders perspective of all time for me was Shoe Dog, sharing Nike's story. In Shoe Dog, Phil Knight shines through with his relentless focus on winning against competition despite of several adversities he faced. In his own words "In the late 1970s, I redefined winning, expanded it beyond my original definition of not losing, of merely staying alive. That was no longer enough to sustain me, or my company. We wanted, as all great businesses do, to create, to contribute, and we dared to say so aloud." It provided an almost cut-throat perspective on what it took to win in high stakes industries and the sheer energy, belief and focus required to achieve it. That game is not for everyone, but when you have a leader who believes in something like the way Phil Knight believed in his Nike dream, it is halfway there already. As he aptly puts it: "Like it or not, life is a game. Whoever denies that truth, whoever simply refuses to play, gets gets left on the sidelines."

We are human after all in our judgments (mostly poor ones): I was gifted Talking to Strangers by a friend and it ended up being one of the best reads of the year. Mind opening concepts around how flawed our judgment of people can be and the impact it can have on conscious and subconscious biases and judgment failures at workplace and in personal lives. " They struggle with assessing a stranger's honesty, they struggle with a stranger's character, they struggle with a stranger's intent. It's a mess."

Sapiens (mind bender): I highly recommend Sapiens - Brief History of Humankind to one and all. A brilliant articulation of human history and some thought provoking perspectives that can alter your views of life and everything around us.

I also decided to pass on the book magic to some of my colleagues and friends as year-end gifts (below). I was gifted a few books in 2019 and each time it felt like a great gesture for someone to have taken time to chose a book for me.

In hindsight I clearly missed some fiction, sci-fi and more light-hearted reads from my collection this year.

That's the plan for 2020. Happy reading everyone.