How To Build Intellectual Power Sept 2 2009

One Book at a Time By Avil M. Beckford

3 Reasons to Read ............................................................ Page 4
4 Levels of Reading .......................................................... Page 5
Impact of Reading ........................................................... Page 7
How Many Books for a Well Fed Mind ..................................... Page 8
What to Read ................................................................. Page 10
Are You Too Busy to Read ................................................... Page 11
How to Remember What You Read ........................................ Page 12
Keeping Track to Master a Subject ........................................ Page 13
Keeping Track of What You Have Read ................................... Page 14
How to Develop a Reading Plan ........................................... Page 15
Reading Plan Process ........................................................ Page 17
Book Recommendations .................................................... Page 22
Rare Books That Inspire Learning ...................................... Page 27
Avil Beckford’s List of Books That Influence ............................. Page 28
Books Important to President Barack Obama ............................ Page 29
Authors Important to President Barack Obama .......................... Page 30
Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

Professionals who aspire to become leaders in their field must develop intellectual power. To do that requires chewing, digesting and savoring the right books, one book at a time.
Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren in their groundbreaking book How To Read A Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading , say people read for three reasons:
Entertainment
Information
Understanding (Necessary to further knowledge)
To get the most from reading, readers have to interact with the words on the page, have to think about what the authors are saying, and why they are saying what they are saying.

Elementary: Level of reading that is learned in elementary school
Inspectional: Emphasis is on time - getting the most out of a book within a short time frame. There are two types of inspectional reading, systematic skimming or pre-reading and superficial reading
Analytical: Deals with classifying the book, coming to terms with it, determining the book's message, and criticizing both the book and the author. Analytical reading is a very active type of reading
Syntopical: Also known as comparative reading, is the most complex form of reading. It is reading multiple books on the same subject and placing them in relation to each other

Comparing Adler’s and Van Doren’s four levels of reading to Francis Bacon’s quotation, elementary reading is similar to tasting, inspectional to swallowing and analytical to chewing and digesting. Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

Build verbal power
Build a body of knowledge
Gain insights
Discover guidelines to live by
Secure formulas and intellectual frameworks to use
Gain a deeper understanding and heightened awareness
Discover new ways of thinking
Introduce rigor to your thinking
Gain an understanding of cultures, civilization and the world
Awake/Ignite something within

Research by Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) reported that Korean CEOs read an average of two or three books per month, which was slightly lower than what their counterparts at western companies who read on average 1,000 pages per month.
This equates to approximately four to five books each month assuming each book is 200 – 250 pages in length.
Source: Korea Economic Trends, NO.333, August 7, 2004

The “menu” of books should include a selection of not just bestsellers, but also books that are off the beaten tracks. In fact, the great thinkers who have transformed the world did not read bestsellers. As an aspiring leader, or someone who wants to be on the fast track, if you focus only on what others are focusing on, how can you stretch and expand your thinking, to develop the intellectual power required to respond with agility to opportunities and challenges in the workplace? Books featured on bestsellers’ lists are unlikely to give your mind an intellectual workout. Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

To get book recommendations, ask mentors, colleagues, friends and family:
Which book had a profound impact on your life?
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you?
Offer to compile a list of the results and email to them.
If you are reading to master a subject area, read books by the leaders in the area (field) that you are interested in.

In a 24/7 world that is ever changing, one where people are constantly bombarded with information, busy professionals have to be intentional about reading, carving out time for learning in an already tightly scheduled day. To achieve a reading goal a reading plan is required. “ The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.” E. M. Forster, English novelist and essayist Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

Take notes while you read in a notebook designated for that purpose, or write the notes on the inside cover of the book and on other blank pages. This is very important if reading to master a subject. Record all the page numbers for easy access to the information
Connect what you are reading to what you already know
Identify what are the strength and weaknesses of the book
Make special note of any information that you can readily apply to work and life
Each month, record book information to keep track of what you have read, and write a brief summary of the book from your notes

Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise Title/Author Concept 1 Documentation/Page Found Concept 2 Documentation/Page Found Concept 3 Documentation/Page Found What are the Weaknesses of the Authors’ Arguments, Evidence and Conclusions? Special Notes

How many books have you read in the past six months?
Of the books that you read, how many were for entertainment, information and understanding?
Did you recommend any of books you read in the past six months to anyone? Why? Why not?
What are you now able to do that you were not able to do six months ago, that is a direct result of reading a book?

In what subject area would you like to build intellectual capacity and power in?
What has prevented you so far from building intellectual capacity and power in areas that you need to?
What are some strategies that you can develop to minimize the barriers that prevent you from building your intellectual capacity?
Are you committed to developing a reading plan? If yes, when?

Invest in a good speed-reading course
To get tips on how to get the most out of your reading, read
How to Read A Book
Book-Lover
The Reading of Books
How to Read and Why
The Art of Thought
The Thinker’s Guides (Center for Critical Thinking)
Set a daily reading goal and schedule it into your day
Try to read about 40 to 50 pages a day, which will allow you to read about a book each week
Get up earlier and/or stay up later if necessary
If your aim is to attain mastery in a topic within three years you have to apply the necessary discipline

What to read each month:
Start with the book recommendation from mentors, family and friends
Have a combination of fiction and non-fiction and every now and again read a fairy tale or a children’s book “just because”
Take an inventory of all the unread books that are on your bookshelf
Join a Book-of-the-Month Club. Two suggestions are:
Book of the Month Club
Quality Paperback Book Club

Subscribe to business book summaries and use them as a guide to decide which business books are worth reading.
Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries
Soundview Executive Book Summaries
The Summaries.com
Make professional development a fun time for the family. And, if you have a long commute to work, invest in:
Unabridged books on CDs and tapes to listen to during the commute
Audio programs that your family can listen to during family time or on road trips
Create a form to record information on the books that you have read, for easy reference (or use the template on page 14)

For articles to read , two very good websites for magazine articles are:
Magportal.com
Magatopia.com
Each week read some alternative articles on subjects that you would not usually read
For electronic book downloads
Google Books
Project Gutenberg
World Public Library
BookYards
The Great Book
Great Books for Free
Classic-Literature & Literature Page

Join:
Centre for the Study of Great Ideas
Great Books Foundation
School of Thinking
Foundation for Critical Thinking

Divine Comedy , Dante Alighieri
The Grapes of Wrath , John Steinbeck
Death of a Salesman , Arthur Miller
Faust , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Mark Twain
The Penguin History of the World , J. M. Roberts
The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies , Marcel Mauss
Rubáiyát, Omar Khayya
The Way to Love , Anthony de Mello

That Which You Are Seeking Is Causing You to Seek , Cheri Huber
Alexander Hamilton: The Year That Rocked The World , Ron Chernow
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes , Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , Maya Angelou
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln , Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory , William Manchester

As a professional who is an avid reader and continuous learner, I am always on the lookout for book recommendations. Also, as someone with over 15 years research experience, I have used my skills to interview accomplished individuals to find the answers to the many questions I have about life, success, learning and so on. On the next few pages you will discover the gems that I have found over the years. By diligently chewing, swallowing and digesting the decadent entrees on the book menu, you will not only please your palate, but will develop a well-fed mind. Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

In the New York Times article “C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success,” journalist Harriet Rubin reveals that “Serious leaders who are serious readers build personal libraries dedicated to how to think, not how to compete.”
The CEOs mentioned in the New York Times article seldom read business books. To gain wisdom and insights they chew and digest biographies, literary works and poetry, many of which have been around for decades and sometimes centuries. They too interact with the words on the pages to stretch and expand their minds.
The books mentioned in the New York Times article are included on the list of books recommended.
Rubin, Harriet. July 21, 2009, “ C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success .” New York Times

The list of great books compiled by Professor Gene Waddell is quite impressive, and is for those readers who aspire to be extraordinary. Why the Books on This List is Important Everything old is new again. Throughout history, the great inventors and thinkers have built on the work of others to create successful businesses, products and services. What innovation might you create after reading books from Professor Waddell’s list? Using Rare Books to Inspire Learning Part 1 Using Rare Books to Inspire Learning Part 2 Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

Some of the questions that I ask during the extensive interviews that I conduct with highly accomplished individuals include:
Which one book had a profound impact on your life?
If you were stranded on a deserted island what are five books that you would like to have with you?
Have you ever read any books that prompted you to start a business, or invent a product or service?
What books did your mentors recommend to you?
Avil’s List

Souls of Black Folk , W. E. B. DuBois
Letter From Birmingham Jail , Martin Luther King
Song of Solomon , Toni Morrison
The Power and the Glory & The Quiet American , Graham Greene
The Golden Notebook , Doris Lessing
Cancer Ward , Alexander Solzhenitsyn
In Dubious Battle , John Steinbeck
Power Broker , Robert Caro
Working , Studs Terkel
Wealth of Nations & Theory of Moral Sentiments , Adam Smith
All the King’s Men , Robert Penn Warren
Source: Abe Books

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thomas Jefferson
Mark Twain
Abraham Lincoln
James Baldwin
Friedrich Nietzsche
Reinhold Niebuhr
Paul Tillich
Source: Abe Books

Avil Beckford President of Ambeck Enterprise and Chief Invisible Mentor, is an accomplished writer, researcher, and analyst with over 15 years of experience. Her strong service orientation, dedication to learning and exploring new ways of improving her own life as well as the many she touches, has underpinned her success to date. A published author, her new book, Tales of People Who Get It is the culmination of her life experiences. It has often been said of Avil that her life informs her work. She has also created a companion workbook Journey to Getting It . Avil’s many readers look forward to Ambeck Edge , her company’s regular e-Newsletter that is a rich resource those interested in self-improvement, as well as those professionals who struggle with life balance issues. More recently, she created The Invisible Mentor Blog to use books, articles and interviews by and about successful people to mentor her readers. Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

Websites Ambeck Enterprise http://www.ambeck.com The Invisible Mentor Blog http://theinvisiblementor.com Resources Website Resources: http://www.ambeck.com/resources.html Blog Resources: http://theinvisiblementor.com/resources/ Contact: [email_address] Books: Tales of People Who Get It , Journey to Getting It, The Invisible Mentor Tool Kit , Work-Life Balance Self Discovery Worksheet http://stores.lulu.com/avilbeckford Photo credit: Photo of Francis Bacon, Public Domain, Compliments of Wikipedia Music credit: Public Domain, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, A-M Classical Copyright 2009 Ambeck Enterprise

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How To Build Intellectual Power Sept 2 2009

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How To Build Intellectual Power Sept 2 2009 — Webinar Transcript