In childhood, summers seemed to fill infinite horizons of time, space, and opportunity. As we grow older, those horizons shrink, and time accelerates.
As we approach August, this is perhaps a good moment to tap into our younger selves and slow down. Life moves at a hectic pace, and we must all find ways to recharge and regain some balance.
For me, this means spending time with my loved ones. It also means indulging in a true luxury: taking time to read a book or two. As in past years, I thought I'd share with you a few that are on my list.
Since we are on the subject of aging, I will start with Arthur Brooks's From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. Faced with the welcome prospect of longer lives and careers, if we are so lucky, becoming purposeful about what we want from our professional lives, adjusting our expectations, and exploring more versions of ourselves are all recommendations that Professor Brooks make in this in this worthy look at our later careers.
No matter where we are in our careers, we all want to get better at what we do. But what sets apart the top performers from everyone else? In Talent is Overrated, Geoff Colvin shows that it is not about innate talent but rather hard work—what he describes as "deliberate practice." Only through this type of dedicated and focused practice can we ever achieve true mastery over any skill. Even Mozart, he convincingly argues, achieved greatness not through his inborn gifts but rather through disciplined practice over many years.
What should we be practicing? I would argue one of the most important skills in business is leadership, and for me, the writings of Robert Greenleaf on servant leadership are indispensable. He describes a servant leader as someone who empowers individuals within their roles and seeks out opportunities to build relationships based on mutual trust, empathy, and collaboration in order to work collectively toward a shared goal. I believe this remains one of the best models for CEO leadership ever articulated.
Finally, I know books are also a way to escape from more practical concerns. The Spy and the Traitor reads like fiction, but it is an utterly absorbing true story of Cold War spycraft by Ben Macintyre. And for an even farther escape, Mary Renault's superb novels The King Must Die and its sequel The Bull From the Sea, which chart the escapades of the mythological Theseus as he careers around ancient Greece, are utterly delightful.
Let me wish you all a wonderful August, filled with infinite possibilities.
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