It is said that readers are leaders but the truth is far beyond this three-worded statement. As much as reading books is advised, settling for it is dangerous because what is the essence of accumulating knowledge without testing its efficacy?
"If you read, you'll be able to lead" that's the message this statement expresses directly but if reading alone was enough, ladies that spend a lot of time reading novels would have become great leaders of the literary world. If only you could read every book on financial stability, then you would be financially stable, right? It is to be noted that there is always more to a thing than that which meets the eye.
All the students that read their academic books a lot would have become First Class graduates and all the religious people that read their religious books would have become the best set of leaders in their religious organizations. All it will take to be a leader in a field would just be to read up about the field, right? Sincerely, reading really isn’t enough.
There is a part of growth that requires physical interaction and that would be missing if all you do to grow is read. It is similar to the case of people of opposite sexes; you’ll need to study a friend or a partner so as to understand them. Their words, mood and thoughts which might be expressed by their face can be ‘read’ but that wouldn’t be enough because just knowing about someone is not the answer, understanding why they act the way they do is ultimate.
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Now, don't get me wrong or have it twisted. Reading is not in any way bad, but reading without evaluation is not efficient. You can’t just acquire knowledge and keep it locked up. You don’t purchase a car and keep it closed in your garage, there’s a need to reveal the understanding of this knowledge learnt. Just laying up piles of knowledge is a waste of time and resources. What then is to be done?
Let me break it down; if you read that the sum of 2 and 2 equals 4 and you don't bother to find out why the sum of 2 and 2 is 4, you won't be able to apply that knowledge to the sum of 4 and 4. Likewise, if you don't meditate on what your religious book teaches, you will only have the surface knowledge and I believe that surface knowledge doesn't make leaders.
What makes a leader is not just what they read or see; it is what they can and will do with the information that has reached them, and that is a function of how they can evaluate situations that happened before and the ones happening at that moment.
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Don’t settle for reading a lot, go a step further and evaluate what you have read. Consider a student that is running a course and was referred books to read as part of the course outline, reading the books will help him know about the course, but studying or evaluating the contents will make him better. That is the reason for the combination of theory and practical; for a better understanding of a course of study. No one gets the best out of skimming through information but out of the careful study of the information. I believe that being vast in the details or of a religious belief, will only be a stepping stone towards being able to lead others in that line of belief, to be able to lead effectively, the individual must be able to express which he has learnt and not just talk about it.
I am not sure if I can make it any simpler than I have already stated, the statement is true in its entirety but the depth of truth in "Readers are leaders" stretch down to the fact that reading without mediation, study, or evaluation will just build a bank of knowledge without cashiers to bring out the knowledge which results from understanding.