Why Leadership Books Don’t Make You a Good Leader

I have a friend who keeps a stack of 3 to 5 new leadership books next to his bed at all times. I admit it, I have my fair share of them as well. I love leadership books. I get great ideas from them and I sometimes will recommend one to a client. But here is the problem with them.

• It’s hard to find time to finish them from cover to cover.

• It’s often difficult to apply the book’s concepts in a real-world situation.

• The memory of the book fades unless you keep revisiting it.

• Few people can actually say a leadership book made a big difference in their own leadership development.

So what does make a difference in leadership development? For most people, it is a combination of many things, but my clients have found that getting clarity on what works best for them with the help of leadership coaching gets the best results.  Here is why.

• Leadership coaches help create development goals based on the individual client.

• They hold their clients accountable to help them build new habits and patterns of behavior.

• They are a sounding board during difficult leadership challenges.

• They help clients apply all those great concepts in the leadership books to their real-world situations.

If you’d like to learn more about how I can help you accelerate your growth and influence as a technical leader without having to read leadership books, click here to schedule a leadership exploration call.