Forget self-help: Novels could be the key to better leadership than business books

For over thirty years, a recommendation Warren Buffett made to Bill Gates has influenced Gates' business philosophy.

Buffett introduced Gates to John Brooks' 1969 essay collection, "Business Adventures," a series of Wall Street stories that, despite being unavailable since the '70s, captivated Gates. He read these success and cautionary tales voraciously.

In 2014, Gates noted, "Brooks' writings remind us that the principles for building a robust business and delivering value stand unchanged." This underscores a lesson: successful individuals like Gates advise finding wisdom in books.

Gates reportedly delves into around 50 books annually, predominantly memoirs and educational works on environmental science, public health, and finance. Similarly, Buffett frequently recommends financial classics like Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor." Influential figures, including Jeff Bezos, have emphasized book reading among staff, especially advocating nonfiction that discusses time management and innovation.

The Dominance of Nonfiction in Business Recommendations

Business literature suggested to emerging leaders mostly includes nonfiction. Last year, an analysis by Business Insider found only a single novel in a list of 20 books favored by major corporate figures.

However, there’s an argument from some experts and CEOs passionate about books: the lack of fiction on business leaders' reading lists represents a missed opportunity. Engaging with novels, they say, can hone essential interpersonal skills that advance a budding CEO to the next career level.

Why Fiction is Crucial for Leadership

The genre of fiction isn’t merely for amusement, even though it features invented narratives. Studies suggest that reading literary fiction can enhance empathy, improve emotional readability, and aid in social adaptability.

Joseph Badaracco, who teaches Business Ethics at Harvard, incorporates fiction in his class, "The Moral Leader." Over two decades, his students have consistently gained "a more realistic perspective on life" from these literary works.

Pawlisch, a communications agency leader and avid reader herself, asserts, "The absence of fiction in many executives' reading routines is a leadership issue, not just a cultural one."

The Overlooked Benefits of Fiction

Fiction's value extends beyond entertainment—it builds "muscle memory" for dealing with complexity and balances nuance and imagination, states Tess Pawlisch.

She contends that most business books echo similar ideas, typically crafted by and for similarly privileged, educated, and networked people, limiting diverse perspectives in corporate settings.

Pawlisch references her favorite novel, Isabel Allende's "The House of the Spirits," to illustrate how fiction can broaden one's horizon, offering views outside corporate echo chambers.

Changing the Narrative Around Fiction's Role

Women overwhelmingly lead the fiction market as readers and writers, yet their representation as CEOs in major companies is disproportionately low, despite the sector’s known leadership benefits.

Nonetheless, some men recognize benefits too. Many men in diverse fields reported improved interpersonal communication from reading fiction, which aids in giving effective, encouraging feedback and recognizing workplace morale.

Fiction Enhances Critical Thinking and Communication

According to Jordan Geary, an Emmy-winning producer, men reading fiction excel in understanding people, noting how the imaginative exercise is akin to 'leg day for the soul.'

Geary warns of the rigidity nonfiction instills, likening it to 'instruction manuals' devoid of creativity and flexibility.

Ricardo Fayet, Reedsy's CMO, values the intricate leadership styles in fantasy novels, despite these often being dismissed as escapism rather than practical.

The Need for a Rebrand of Fiction

Pawlisch and Fayet argue that fiction imparts its lessons differently from nonfiction, often not fitting structured, memorization-friendly formats. They emphasize narrative storytelling as a more effective tool for leadership than tidied lists of tips.

Fiction immerses readers in relatable themes and moral complexities, staying with the reader long past superficial facts have faded. Geary illustrates this with his experience reading "Jurassic Park," finding parallels between the novel's chaos and the production chaos in his career.

Great storytellers lead the most successfully, concludes Geary. Understanding the human condition and envisioning alternative realities are far more visionary attributes than merely relaying data.