How I Read A Book

Some people read for pleasure.

Some people read for school or work.

I read a book for learning.  This is more than just “expanding my horizons.”  This is part and parcel of who I am.  In my Signature Talents are “Input” and “Learner,” which means that When I read, I need more than just the book.

            I need my colored mechanical pencils

            I need my sticky tabs

If you just read the book, you have that information for the moment, until a new fact, statistic, or joke replaces what you read last week, or last month…(Did I even read a book last year?)

Instead, I read for information that I can retrieve later. I read looking for the nuggets – the knowledge I want to remember because it is useful for me, or potentially useful for my clients.

I underline those nuggets. (with those colored mechanical pencils).

When a particular nugget shines brighter than the average nugget, that gets a sticky tab – with a note on the tab regarding the content.

By the time I finish the book, I will have 6-30 sticky tabs.  There will be 1-5 of those tabs that I know are there, and when a topic comes up and I need that nugget, I go to my book shelf, pull out the book, find that tab, and read that nugget – to myself, or to my client.

For example, I was coaching a client this morning and a tool came to my mind that I had not used in a while.  I walked the client through it briefly, then told the her that I would email her more information about it later. When I had time (sitting down to write this blog), I looked through my book shelf, knowing I had read about the tool in my “neuroscience of coaching” class, which only had three books.  I found the three books, looked at the table of contents, found the chapter “Tools and Techniques for Leadership Coaching,” went to that chapter and found the sticky Tab labeled “Circle of Excellence.”

I will be sending the email later today.

This is how I read a book …

            HOW do you read a book?