As business leaders we sometimes get so deep in the weeds of our business operations that we don’t take the time to lift our heads and look at the world around us. It is quite an interesting place when you give it a genuine look. For example, today is one of those fewer known days on the calendar. Yes, it is Thursday. It is happening in the year 2022. It is also the 8th day of the month. All relatively common understandings of this day in time. What you might not be aware of is that today we celebrate or should I say focus on the need for global improvement of literacy.
Many of us had the opportunity to go through a course of various levels of education where we were introduced to books. That education may have started with parents reading us books and evolved into more formal setting in school. We learned letters, words, sentences and not only how to read them but equally how to formulate them into ideas and concepts so they could be both spoken and written. This in turn gave us additional insights into how the world operated and what might be our options for participating in the world around us.
As business leaders we cannot take literacy for granted. Not all people have had the opportunity to have access to such tools like books and schools and teachers who were there and took a personal interest in the development of such skills. Part of leadership goes well beyond the daily running of the business. Leadership is a responsibility and accountability to those who you lead. By leading it is not limited to how to do their work but how to be successful in life.
Your business is an extension of you and your team’s life. It is one aspect of what contributes to how you are part of the world. That overarching commitment to growth and success of not only the business but to those who are part of the business is what and where your real leadership talents are expressed.
So, on this day of focusing on literacy, take a few moments and lift your head to look at yourself, your team, your business, your clients, customers, vendors, and the marketplace you play in to see how the business you operate contributes to the improvement of literacy. Maybe you can help your staff better understand financial information so not only will they more fully appreciate and understand the ebb and flow of your organization but can take that same knowledge and apply it to their personal finances for improvement. Maybe your team can commit to doing some book reading at a local elementary school. Possibly have a book drive to collect books and send then to those areas of the world not so fortunate to have libraries in each city, county, or geographical region. The possibilities are almost endless when we lift our heads and look at the world through the eyes of those wanting to be more literate on a cavalcade of topics.
The better we invest time, energy, and finances in raising the literacy now will pay great dividends to our society in the future. If we turn our heads away from the obvious, it does not go away. It just gets bigger and more impactful in the future.
As part of JKL Associates efforts, each Friday we offer up book insights – our Words of Wisdom video blog where we highlight a book which just might bring value to you and your organization. We invite you to let us know about books which have impacted you and your organization and even your life so we can spread the word to help others be aware and raise all our literacy. JKL Associates can be reached at MI (313) 527-7945 or FL (407) 984-7248
Journey On!