All Leaders Are Readers
Harry Truman once said that “not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers”. When Elon Musk was asked how he learned to build rockets, he replied, ‘I read books’.
Business leaders often quote classic business books when they speak about what influences their way of thinking or running their businesses, sometimes even their decision-making. Business and non-fiction books play a similar role for most professionals. Over time though, reading habits have found replacements. The India Business Literature Festival (IBLF) was conceptualised to bring back this habit that creates leaders and great thinkers.
“Authors and entrepreneurs are the biggest heroes for me. IBLF, in particular, is the start of a movement. It shines the spotlight on people who are celebrated authors and are contributing to India. It also looks to applaud new authors who have taken their first steps to share their journeys and learnings through writing books,” said Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of BW Businessworld at the Delhi chapter of the forum.
The Movement
The Delhi chapter marked the start of a 21-city journey. Fifteen renowned authors took the stage on the day to discuss their inspiration for writing books, the processes they followed and what they hope their books will mean to their readers. They also spoke about the authors who influenced their lives and experiences.
The IBLF also announced the launch of a Business Book Prize on the day, which will take place at the end of the 21-city festival.
The next chapter will take place on January 11, 2023, in Gurugram, where authors such as D Shivakumar, Naina Lal Kidwai, Prakash Iyer, Paul Dupuis, Kiran Karnik, Robin Banerjee, Jayadeva Ranade, Utkarsh Amitabh, Aishwarya Pandit, Rachna Chhachhi and Subhash Chandra Garg among others will take the stage.
As people get busy in their daily jobs, even when they are buying books, they seldom take the time to read them. IBLF’s mission is to bring back reading habits because books influence people. It is an attempt to instil reading habits among CXOs and working professionals and to encourage CEOs and founders to motivate their teams to read. In the course of its multi-chapter journey, IBLF looks to create celebrities out of authors.
