Part One
Dear PR Matters,
As someone new in the work force, I am very fortunate to be working with someone in a communications company whom I can consider my mentor.
She is smart, successful, beautiful, and seems to bring with her so much positive and creative energy wherever she goes. My colleagues and I learn a lot from her, and one of the things she always tells us to do is read a lot.
And she shows us the way, reading books, publications, and online information during her downtime. My colleagues and I are adjusting to pick up this habit as we really have not grown up with it.
It will help us if you could reinforce the importance of reading, and would be happy if you could suggest some books that I could start reading.
Sincerely,
Angeline S.
Dear Angeline,
Thank you for your letter and my colleagues and I are happy that you are slowly moving into the wonderful world of books. You and your colleagues are fortunate that you have a mentor that encourages you pick up this habit, which should be very helpful to you as you are in the communications business.
But why read? Let’s begin with stories on how books can change lives, one which Peter Economy shares with us in an Inc.com article, “Jeff Bezos Became the Wealthiest Man on Earth with the Remarkable Help of this Book.”
In it, Economy recounts how in a recent podcast with Kara Swisher, author and former Stanford Prof. Jim Collins “discussed his relationship with Bezos, and how one of his very own business books changed the game for Amazon at a time when it had not yet turned in a profit.”
Back in 2001, Amazon was just four years old—struggling to get its footing after the dot.com bust. Looking to Collins for advice, Bezos phoned the author and eventually invited him over to visit the Amazon campus.
Collins met with Bezos and other Amazon executives and discussed the core ideas from his upcoming book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, which was published later that year.
Collins covered at length the main focus of Good to Great—the idea that business growth and success can be viewed like a giant flywheel, focusing on building one thing in order to drive another.
Economy goes on to say that “with the wisdom of Good to Great in hand, Bezos and his team at Amazon were able to make necessary strategic changes to the business in order to set up their own flywheel for success. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
Likewise, Bill Gates carries a tote bag full of books almost everywhere he goes, according to his recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. Fellow billionaire Warren Buffet is another avid reader.
But why read? Here are some reasons why Bezos and Gates, among others, find reading so important:
1 It exposes us to new things. Exploration begins from reading and understanding, says inspirationboost.com., which continues to say that, “through reading, you expose yourself to new things, new information, new ways to solve a problem, and new ways to achieve one thing.” Being in the communications field, you need to be updated, and reading will keep you in touch with what’s current, and what’s happening.
2 It expands knowledge and makes you smarter. “Books are a very rich source of information,” says gladreaders.com. “Reading books somehow or the other adds depth to your knowledge base. With your increasing knowledge, you become capable of making better decisions and choices in life.”
It is not surprising that, “with so many new things learned, people who read obviously tend to be smarter than people who don’t.”
3 It broadens your imagination and enhances your creativity. The beauty of books is that it “makes us imagine things beyond possibility—things that would not come to our mind normally,” says gladreaders.com.
They also “give you the opportunity to have your own perspectives and imaginations into play. Apart from this, different creative characters, plots, and approaches trigger your creativity, as well. You become more creative and imaginative.”
4 It improves on your focus and concentration. While the Internet has definitely revolutionized our world, gladreaders.com puts things in perspective. “But there’s a huge drawback, too. For many of us, a large part of our day is spent surfing, chatting, watching videos, reading unnecessary memes and articles online. No wonder people are growing more impatient and losing focus.”
However, “reading books is one of those constructive habits that actually help us improve our concentration power. It helps us train our brain to focus our attention and live in the present.”
5 It enhances your memory. There are many things we need to remember when we read a book, says gladreaders.com. These include the name of characters and their features, name of places, plots and subplots, the sequence of events, memorable lines. The more you read, the more you increase your ability to retain information.
As your brain “learns to remember the information from the story line, it also becomes better at remembering the other things in life. So, by reading books, you are also indirectly training your brain in improving your memory.”
6 It’s a great source of motivation. Describing life as “tricky,” gladreaders.com, says we all need a little motivation and a little push in the right direction when we are discouraged and things are not going right.
That is why “reading a good inspirational book during such a period can change our way of thinking, and give us hope and motivation. Books are no doubt a huge source of motivation. We can derive great inspirations from them and transform our lives positively.”
Ready to read? We will suggest some “must read” books in next week’s column.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Image credits: ANYABERKYUT | DREAMSTIME.COM