As a board member of a non-profit, you might wonder how the habit of reading can improve your ability to provide guidance and oversight to your NFP. While it’s true that the written word is one of the primary ways that we convey information, especially history and facts, reading has a surprising number of other benefits, especially for leaders.  For example, the act of reading not only boosts a leaders basic overall intelligence, but it can also increase emotional intelligence by helping leaders gain insight into what motivates others.

Why Reading is Important for Leaders

The benefits of reading don’t stop with increased intelligence; it also enhances communication, from language mastery and vocabulary to speaking and writing. Reading also benefits mental processing speeds which provide direct aid to judgment and problem-solving ability.

Reading improves one’s connection with the world and others in it, while challenging our existing ways of seeing and thinking about the world. Even the act of reading works of fiction has been shown to be beneficial, as it increases our empathy for others while also reducing our heart rate, blood pressure and decreasing the effects of stress.

All of these benefits enhance our leadership skills, which is why most truly great, well-known leaders are known for their passions for life-long learning and reading.

Leadership Books – Are There Too Many Choices?

Once you come to recognise the benefits of reading, your may have difficulty deciding which books you should read to boost your effectiveness in your leadership role. After all, there is literally over a million leadership titles to choose from, with more books about leadership being published every year.

7 Leadership Books Every NFP Board Member Should Read

The following is not an exhaustive list of leadership books that will benefit every leader and board member. This list, however, is a good starting point for board members that want to stay up to date on the latest advances that will help them increase their productivity and effectiveness.

The Networked Nonprofit, by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine, and Randi Zuckerberg. One of the top challenges facing the NFP sector today is learning how to use emerging technologies such as social media and other advances to drive engagement and innovation at their organisations.  This book provides practical advice and guidance on how NFPs can use social media to their best advantage.

Forces for Good, by Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant. Case studies are a great way for leaders to learn about techniques that have worked to increase effectiveness at other organisations. This book looks at actions commonly taken by successful NFPS to inspire their people, develop their networks and create lasting change.

What Works, by Iris Bohnet. Increasing diversity and achieving greater gender balance is a challenge for most profit-driven and non-profit organisations.  This book draws upon research conducted by a behavior economist and presents new practices and possible solutions that NFPs and other organisations can put into place to create a more fair and inclusive workplace.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Much of the work that is accomplished at NFPs, and indeed in any organisation, occurs because we are able to convince others to donate, to give, and in some way to help our cause. The ability to tell our story to others in such a way that it resonates and connects us to one another, forging a deep bond, is the key to convincing others to jump on board. This book takes a practical look at what makes some ideas “catch fire,” and steps that you can take to increase your own ability to persuade others to support your vision and join in on your mission.

From Good to Great in the Social Sector, by Jim Collins. This short tome is written by the author of the best-selling leadership book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. The book offers practical advice to help leaders transform their nonprofit. From how to surround yourself with the best people, from your new hires to fellow board members, to how to then leverage your combined talents to create an incredibly strong and resilient, high performing organisation.

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, by Adam Grant. Rather than focusing on the skills and motivations of individuals, this book looks at what tends to motivate each of us when we work together in groups, and how leaders can increase communication and inspire members of each of three groups: givers, takers and matchers.

The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time, by Maria Konnikova. While most of us enter the NFP sector because of a desire to make a positive impact in the world through helping others, not everyone is so altruistic. Loss due to fraud and other acts of deception is a significant risk for many NFPs, and this work explains why nearly everyone is more vulnerable to deception that they might assume. The books also provide practical steps that leaders of NFPs and other organisations can take to reduce their risk of falling victim to fraud.

What do you think of our list? Are there other leadership books that you have found beneficial in your role as an NFP board member? Why not share your reading suggestions in the comments section below?