Reading Is Leverage
I consider myself lucky that at the start of my career I did not have an ego and wanted to learn more about everything manufacturing related.
A wise man I respected handed me a book one time and said, "Read this before next month." I almost didn't. I was busy and I figured I was learning enough just by showing up to work every day.
Well, I read it anyway. ("Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do" by Robert H. Schuller)
While it wasn't a manufacturing book, what I found inside changed my attitude and my results for the rest of my life.
Now, looking back, I understand what a book actually is.
The Bottleneck
Most manufacturing leaders I've worked with are sharp, experienced, and genuinely committed to improving their operations. They invest in equipment. They invest in process. They send their people to training.
But when I ask how many books they've read in the last six months on leadership, personal development, decision-making, or operational discipline, I get that wierd look of "Who has time for that?".
The irony is hard to miss. These are people who would never let a machine run without proper maintenance, who would never skip a process review when they find bottlenecks.
But they'll go years without putting new thinking into their own heads, and then wonder why the same problems keep showing up.
Continuous improvement doesn't stop at the process itself.
It must include the person running the process.
Leadership Lever
Here's what a book actually represents: someone spent years inside a problem, made expensive mistakes, figured out what worked, and then wrote it all down so you don't have to repeat the same cycle.
That is compressed experience you can absorb in a few hours.
I'm not more intelligent than the next leader. But after that first book, I committed to reading at least 10 pages every day, and that habit has compounded into more value than I can easily calculate.
Sharper perspective under pressure.
Fewer costly misjudgments.
The ability to lead through situations I hadn't personally faced, because I'd already read about someone who had navigated something similar and I could apply it.
The leaders I've seen plateau over the years weren't short on talent or drive. They were short on input.
They stopped learning when school was over and real life started, ...and the world kept advancing without them.
Try This On Monday
Pick one book relevant to where you want to improve, whether that's decision-making, coaching your team, managing under pressure, or understanding your results better.
Commit to 10 pages every night before your head hits the pillow.
Not a chapter, not a summary, just 10 pages.
Do that for 30 days and pay attention to what starts shifting in how you think through daily challenges.
If you're not sure where to start, ask yourself what challenge keeps showing up in your operation that you haven't fully solved.
Find a book written by someone who has solved it. That's your starting point.
From The Shop Floor
I worked with a plant manager a couple years back who was technically strong but consistently struggled with team conflict and communication breakdowns.
He wasn't a bad leader. He just hadn't been exposed to much thinking outside his own experience.
On a recommendation, he started reading one leadership book every two months. Within a year, the way he handled difficult conversations had changed noticeably.
His team noticed before he did.
Employee retention improved because he treated people more appropriately. So did his confidence in situations he used to avoid.
Nothing about his operation changed except what he was putting into his own head and applied it to his situation.
Off The Clock
My kids grew up watching me read. Not because I made a point of showing them, just because it was part of the routine.
What I didn't expect was the conversations it would start. My youngest son asked me once why I still read books when I could just watch videos about the same topics. I told him that a book forces you to think, where a video lets you watch someone else think for you. There's a difference in what stays with you afterward.
The same principle applies on the shop floor.
Leaders who read, develop a different kind of thinking, not faster necessarily, but more layered. They connect dots that others miss because they've been exposed to more situations.
And like every other discipline worth building, it starts with a decision to begin and a commitment to keep going.
Ten pages a night (or morning). That's the whole ask. Do it consistently and watch what it does to your pesonal and team growth.
Take It Further
If you are getting into situations you struggle with in leading your manufacturing team, it might be time to feed your brain with some "compressed experience".
I help managers and supervisors develop the mindset, habits, and tools to lead energized and engaged teams β profitably.
Click here for my 3-Step Guide to Meeting Production Schedules Profitably it offers a practical framework drawn from four decades in manufacturing leadership. Itβs built for leaders who want predictable performance and engaged teams.
You can also schedule a strategy session here
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