I\u2019ve stumbled back into the arms of an old love.<\/p>\n

Growing up, I loved to read biographies. I\u2019d check out a short stack of books every week or two from the library and consume them rather than doing my school work. I\u2019m not sure whether my passion was fueled by the pleasure of traveling through the lives of historical figures or by my rebellion against studying what my teachers assigned, but I flat tore through \u2018em.<\/p>\n

However, one unfortunate morning I was caught with a library book cradled inside of the science book which I was supposed to be reading instead. My sixth-grade teacher stood me up in front of the class and dressed me down for wasting my time reading library books instead of my science, math, and other school books that would help me advance in grades. Rather than turn my attention towards school books, out of embarrassment and emotional trauma I virtually stopped reading altogether.<\/p>\n

Although I came back to reading, I was well into my adult years before I started reading for pleasure again. Most of my book time was spent acquiring business knowledge or developing my craft. I still harbor feelings of illicit pursuits when I pick up a book simply for the pleasure it might deliver. But what I\u2019ve continued to re-discover is that time spent in pleasure reading brings no shortage of practical return.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve returned to biographies for the sake of pleasure, I continually find that the qualities and lessons of great leadership are timeless. I\u2019m also reminded that the qualities of fear, insecurity, self-serving pettiness, and ignorance often lead to great waste of financial, but more importantly human, capital. Although it may be difficult to replace lost money, it\u2019s not nearly as challenging as rebuilding after spurned, burned, or broken relationships have occurred.<\/p>\n

With Linda\u2019s encouragement, I\u2019m increasingly adding back the pleasures that round out my life. While my growth as a business person is still important, I also strive for balance in the nuances of being human.<\/p>\n

Charles<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve stumbled back into the arms of an old love. Growing up, I loved to read biographies. I\u2019d check out a short stack of books every week or two from the library and consume them rather than doing my school work. I\u2019m not sure whether my passion was fueled by the pleasure of traveling through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10,18],"tags":[101,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-attitude","7":"category-happiness","8":"category-story","9":"tag-leadership","10":"tag-reading","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n