I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power. Learning and gaining knowledge is a passion of mine. One of my favorite quotes is by Eric Hoffer: “In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”

There are so many great books, articles, blogs, newspapers and other sources of knowledge that it’s easy to become overwhelmed. During the past year the pile of books I want to read has been growing much faster than what I’ve been able to read.

I recently signed up for a speed reading course with Abundant Reading Systems. I’m about half way through the course and I’m already seeing improvements. My instructor, David Hinton, continues to press us to “let go” of comprehension while we learn techniques to increase our speed. That’s a difficult thing for me because understanding what I read is incredibly important to me. I’m finding, however, that as I let go at higher speeds (10-15k words per minute) I can comprehend much better when I slow down (1-2k wpm). Letting go is ultimately helping me to hang on.

It’s the same way in leadership settings. We cannot make other people do things we want them to do. We can lead with persuasion, by example, or with an iron fist, but we cannot force people to do what they do not want to do. Next time you find yourself in a situation where somebody will not do what you want them to, try letting go and see how things end up.