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It's summer time again, time for vacations, grilling in the backyard, and doing a little more reading. As with most things in life, you'll get more from your reading if you plan just a bit. Here are some suggestions about what to read and how to choose what to read.

Read, but also re-read. Great books are different from other books because you can go back to them again and again. I've been dipping into the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin frequently for almost fifty years.

Read about business. Choose a book that helps you keep up with current ideas or one that your colleagues recommend. Ask around for ideas. For re-reading I suggest a Drucker duo, The Effective Executive and Managing for Results. Either book is great alone, but they're especially powerful when read close together. There are more ideas in my post "Starting Your Personal Reading Program."

Read something different. Look for something outside your normal reading pattern. Magazines are great for this. Two suggestions: The New Yorker and The Economist. My friend Mac recommended The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind as a great, true inspirational book. He was right and now I'm recommending the book to you.

Read some fiction. You get lost in fiction in a way that doesn't happen with a business book. I'm sure to dip into the Hemingway Short Stories several times this summer.

Read something that stretches your mind. I really like Atul Gawande's book, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance. Essays are wonderful for stretching your mind in short bursts. I'm currently reading Victor Davis Hanson's The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern.

Special note: This is not a school assignment, so if you pick up a book or magazine and reading it turns into a slog, it's probably a good idea to put it down and start something else. After all, this is about stretching your mind, not ticking recommendations off a list. So it's OK, despite any advice you've received about finishing every book you start.

Boss's Bottom Line

Great leaders are great learners and reading is almost always part of how they learn. 

Reading Lists by Others

David Burkus at LeaderLab

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.