Since I’m in continuous meetings for weeks on end, I’m not reading much. So I pulled out an article I wrote several years ago on reading and the myths attached to it.

Several years ago, I ran across a great resource by Keith Drury (www.indwes.edu/tuesday) on improving our reading skills. Many folks have said that “leaders are readers and readers are leaders.” I hesitate to quote that, because it’ may not always be true. Nevertheless, I think that reading is the best indicator of our commitment to continuously grow and develop and learn–and if we are not learning and growing, we cannot lead.

Keith’s first recommendation:

Toss Away The Following Reading Myths

Myth 1. Reading is linear. Most see reading as a linear process; you know, start up front and grind through to the very end in the exact order it was printed in. Reading is no more linear than good thinking is.

Myth 2. True reading is word-for-word. We all start as kids looking at individual letters. They didn’t help much. Next we started sounding out syllables. Finally, we could read whole words. Why stop with words? Well, lots of reasons… a high school teacher or college professor made us swear we had “Read every single word” of our assigned reading. Why? He didn’t make us swear we’d “read every single letter.” Well, maybe he or she never realized that we must move from letters, syllables, and words, to reading phrases, sentences and paragraphs. Probably, they got caught up in idiom and didn’t realize that reading something thoroughly didn’t mean reading it one word at a time.

Myth 3. Reading is a laborious task which takes a long time. Not at all! Reading can be both fun and fast. (We see how in future columns.)

Myth 4. All parts of a book are of equal value. Keith argues that this myth will persist until you actually write your own book. Then, all at once you realize there is “filler” material , illustrations, and even sometimes whole chapters jammed into a book just because the publisher insisted or you liked what you wrote. Take sermons or messages for instance. Ever hear a message and wish you could put it on fast forward over that long story illustrating a point you already understand? Well, in reading you can fast forward.

Myth 5. Reading faster will reduce retention. Sorry. It should be that way, shouldn’t it? Those who groan slowly through a book painstakingly sounding out every single word, maybe even moving their lips, should get a greater reward shouldn’t they? Sorry. In fact, learning some reading techniques to increase your speed will actually increase your comprehension and retention.