AI speeds decisions. Top executives double down on reading.
As automation compresses cycle times, a surprising edge is coming from a slow habit: reading. Rob Thomas (IBM) spends two to three hours most mornings with books to study how people and systems win. Warren Buffett estimates 80% of his workday is spent reading. Charlie Munger put it bluntly: "In my whole life, I have known no wise people… who didn't read all the time-none, zero."
Mark Zuckerberg launched a public book club in 2015, committing to a new title every two weeks across topics like globalization and belief systems. "Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way," he said. Jamie Dimon starts before dawn, reading five newspapers and often recommends history and diverse viewpoints to build better judgment.
The signal is clear: great leaders read to think better, make cleaner calls, and see second-order effects before everyone else.
What high-performing executives read
- Strategy and systems thinking: Build mental models, spot patterns, and pressure-test bets.
- Leadership and psychology: Upgrade perception of incentives, bias, and behavior.
- Biographies and narrative nonfiction: Connect business choices to real human stakes and long arcs of cause and effect.
When they read
- Daily: 30-60 minutes of focused reading before the day starts.
- Weekly: One deep block of 2-3 hours (treat it like a non-negotiable meeting).
- In transit: Flights and commutes for long-form material, reflection, and note review.
A simple reading playbook for executives
- Define the question: What decision, capability, or thesis are you building? Let that guide your stack.
- Use three shelves: 1) Strategy/systems, 2) People/leadership, 3) Biographies/history. Keep one book from each shelf in rotation.
- Read with a pen: Mark 3-5 key ideas per session. Summarize them in one paragraph. Translate one idea into an immediate action or test.
- Build a common library: Share notes with your staff. Ask direct reports to annotate the same chapters. Debate the ideas in a 15-minute stand-up.
- Close the loop: Tie insights to metrics. If a book changes your playbook, define the experiment and deadline.
Suggested stack for the next 30 days
- Strategy/systems: A classic on competitive advantage or complex systems. Pair with a memo applying one model to your market.
- Leadership/psychology: A book on decision quality, incentives, or bias. Run a pre-mortem on your next initiative using its framework.
- Narrative nonfiction: A history or city-building narrative to widen context. For example: Taking Manhattan by Russell Shorto.
Why this works
- Long-form creates depth: Books force slower thinking, which reduces knee-jerk decisions and improves signal over noise.
- Range compounds: Cross-pollination from history, psychology, and systems thinking improves second- and third-order foresight.
- Ritual beats willpower: A fixed schedule and a shared stack with your team make the habit stick.
Make it operational
- Calendar it: Block the same slot daily and one longer weekly block. Protect it like board prep.
- Set a throughput target: Two books per month across the three shelves is plenty if you apply what you read.
- Create a one-pager template: Problem, key ideas, application, experiment, result. Repeat for each book.
If you want a quick primer on why leaders read, this overview is useful: For Those Who Want to Lead, Read.
Bonus: keep an AI lens in your stack
Pair leadership and strategy titles with one AI-focused book or resource per month. It keeps your mental models current without falling into trend-chasing. For curated AI reading ideas, see this collection: AI Books.
The habit is simple: read, distill, apply, measure. Schedule your first block this week and make it a standing meeting with yourself.
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