If you don't like reading books but still wants to be a learner, read this.

 

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”  - Harry S. Truman

If you want to lead in your organization or your company, you need to read books. I found this very true in my life and many people's life. I found that many leaders today are readers of books. There is something powerful about reading that it makes the reader a little smarter. But what if you do not like to read books?

I find myself in this category. I do not like reading. Yes, I've read books in the past but it has always been a struggle to do so. Also I found that I take more time reading any book compared to my friends. So what's the alternative?

All leaders are readers because they are learners so the key is not just reading it is learning. Over 5 years ago when I found the "magical" power of audio learning. I call it magical because I found myself easily recalling many of the concepts and facts that I hear from an audiobook or podcast. I found that I am a listener and not a reader. So what I did (and still doing) is that when I am on transit on my way home, I just pop in my headphone and scroll in my iPod audiobooks and sermons that I would like to hear. I see this as a better use of my time while waiting to get home. On my way home or on my way to the office, I learn something new about many things, things that I enjoy learning about. I normally spend 45 minutes going to the office and another 45 minutes going back home so that's over an hour or learning in a day. I listen to an audiobook average of  5 times a week which translates to around 6-7 hours learning a week. That's equivalent to half of a semester of graduate studies. Remember that this 6-7 hours of learning is not time taken from my other activities since I am using my idle time while I am traveling.

Where can you get these audio materials?

You can buy them from Amazon or get them from Audible.com

You can also get free podcasts from iTunes.

Buy yourself an mp3 player or an iPod then load it with podcasts and audiobooks.

Whatever your way of learning is, make sure that you are enjoying it. Relax, learn, and discover the miracle of audio learning.:)