I can’t remember exactly the date but early in my career I got interested to know what differentiated a good leader and others. In that regard, I had a conversation with this executive of non governmental organisation in Rwanda, whom later became my mentor. I appreciated him so much. 

 

I asked him this simple question of what makes a difference between leaders across all levels in all different areas. From leaders of organisation small and large, leaders of countries, leaders of communities etc. 

 

He just told me something I didn’t expect; as a leader understand that you don’t know it all, so develop a life-long learning attitude because no matter what, you will need to learn, unlearn and relearn throughout your journey as a leader or anyone on that matter. I asked him for recommendations or suggestions on ways leaders keep up with the world, keep consuming knowledge across time. 

 

He told me ‘READ BOOKS’. 

 

I was 25 years old, that’s when I read my first non-academic book and actually finish it. From that time, I fell in love with books and I am never stopping. I still remember the book: Conquering the enemy called average. 

That’s when I understood how valuable books are, how rich they are in terms of knowledge store. It’s the same as that idea of buying or trying to use someone else’s 10,000 hours. 

 

NOW, when I read most of the books, it is to do two things: 

 

1. 1. Discover what I don’t know 

1. 1. Discover how that particular author sees the world 

It is more valuable to discover actually what you don’t know. It is very important to find out that early as possible. 

Nowadays, I read books to gain some information but also to find out what I don’t know. What books I should read next. 

And it is the same reason I listen to podcasts. I get to know what I don’t actually know and also find out people I should check out moving forward . 

 

—Jado