Last week, a client told me about a cool Substack he follows.
It’s called The Big Read and the creator, Jeremy Anderberg, leads people through reading intimidating, classic books like Pride and Prejudice or War and Peace. As I waded through the site, I saw that he’s leading a 2024 summer course in which folks read Team of Rivals, a Pulitzer Prize winning book about Lincoln and leadership in the 1860s.
To quote Anderberg:
While the Civil War era no doubt produced the worst of what we’re capable of, Lincoln also showed us what can happen when good people work for the betterment of a nation. Coming into 2024, we all knew we were headed for a tiresome, frankly depressing election season… this may just be the most important thing you read this year.
HOW GOOD DOES THAT SOUND?
To reiterate: this is not a leadership conference, retreat or skill-gap class. It’s a large group of people reading the same book, supported by smart essays, thoughtful comments and a helpful schedule to keep readers on track. For $50, you’re subscribed to The Big Read for a year.
Lest this sound like a commercial for a guy I’ve never met, let me get to the point: professional development does not always cost thousands of dollars. By reading one of Obama’s favorite books on leadership, I can easily imagine managers gaining deeper understanding of consensus, leading through difficult challenges, working with peers under pressure and finding purpose at work.
This is good shit. You want this mojo in your meetings.
Offer this inexpensive option to your leaders! Hell, make an internal book club and follow along! Many won’t take you up on it, but a few will and you’ll look really cool for offering such a non-traditional experience.
Ping me if you sign up; we can be leadership nerds together!
A non-traditional Mother’s Day gift
Do you have manager moms in your life? Are you looking for a unique, supportive Mother’s Day gift to accompany flowers or a massage? LOOK NO FURTHER!
Plucky’s 1:1 cards are a dynamic tool for managers who want to better leverage conversations with their reports. Each of the 48 cards present a mindful, thought-provoking question.
This seems like an ideal gift for modern, working, manager moms… again, accompanied by something luxurious. Like childcare. Or a day at the spa. 😉
Last of all…
While we’re on the subject of unexpected learning platforms, here are two free courses that recently blew me away:
- A podcast about close-reading This is How You Lose the Time War. Not usually a fan of science fiction, I loved that book so much that I might get a tattoo about it. The podcast takes a close look at the text and unpacks how the authors pulled it off.
- When we moved to Virginia a few years ago, I wondered: what the hell do all these street names mean? ENTER: CIVIL WAR STUDY. I grew obsessed with this lecture-based class through the Ed-X platform and took all three Civil War classes. Eric Foner is a truly excellent lecturer.
It’s late spring! Summer is coming soon. How are you setting up learning and development lately for your teams? Consider some of these non-traditional options… I’m finding lots of joy in exploring big topics in community lately.
See you there,
xo Jen
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