Need Inspiration? 5 Great Essays for Business Leaders

A great essay can change the way you think about something in ten minutes or less. For busy professionals, that makes it a very efficient transmitter of new ideas. An insightful read about anything related to the business world is really just an observation about human behavior and a recommendation for how to act more intentionally, which means there’s something in it for everyone.

Here are five timely and timeless essays to read today about leadership, management, and strategy so you can move your business forward tomorrow.

1: On How to Delegate to Win Back Your Discretionary Time

Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey?

“Hey, can you help me with this?”

You might have your own analogy for it, but you’re probably familiar with this age-old management phenomenon: when your direct report comes to you with a problem, the onus of taking care of it, or the “monkey,” leaps onto your back. And the more monkeys you allow onto your back each week, the less time you have to focus on your own responsibilities.

This classic essay about management from Harvard Business Review outlines how to better delegate tasks to maximize your “discretionary time,” or those precious hours unfilled by meetings or boss obligations that you can spend caring for your own monkeys. 

Though originally published in 1974, this advice is still fresh today, especially for managers who find themselves somehow clocking in even more hours during the great work-from-home experiment. The piece is included in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself, an excellent book of essays about management if you’ve got some extra reading time. 

2: On What the Pandemic Has Taught Us About Leadership During Tough Times

Six Leadership Lessons from COVID-19 

“There is much that leadership guides and seminars do not, and often cannot, prepare you for and this pandemic has certainly been an irregular leadership induction for me,” says Kanni Wignaraja, who was appointed Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations right at the outset of COVID-19.

In this essay, the UN leader reminds leaders of all kinds to embrace big decisions, stay abreast of a rapidly changing situation, and perhaps most importantly, be hopeful.

3: On Growth Strategies for Small Businesses

21 Expert Tips To Take Your Business To The Next Level 

This Forbes piece rounds up 21 tips from Small Business Development Center experts for any small business looking to grow. 

There are no in-depth tactical explanations here, but this list offers growth ideas in business areas that might not always be front of mind, like cybersecurity planning, software selection, or forming an advisory board.

4: On How Women Leaders Can Hold a Mirror Up to Your Organization

When Women Lead, Workplaces Should Listen

This article from major consulting firm McKinsey & Company stresses the importance of institutional self-reflection, the act of scrutinizing existing leadership styles and decision-making processes, in order to be a more inclusive – and ultimately more effective – organization.

How do you go about that introspection? Listen to your women leaders. McKinsey suggests that executives evaluate company leadership models on the basis of whether or not female leaders feel their contributions are valued equally as their male counterparts’. To do that, they need to give women leaders license to speak critically.

5: On the Power of Positive Thinking, in Business and in Life

Always Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop? Here’s How to Quit Worrying 

After a major personal or professional milestone, have you ever felt more anxious than happy because you were scared something bad naturally had to follow? 

This evergreen piece from The New York Times speaks to the impact of mindfully shaping one’s expectations. Penned by a clinical psychologist, this how-to in curbing your worries tells us to actively tune out the voice of panic and self-scrutiny by practicing small acts of gratitude and reflection each day.

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It’s always great to stumble upon an essay about leadership that really shifts your thinking while scrolling LinkedIn or Twitter. But you can’t really rely on a steady stream of inspiration that way.

If you want curated reading lists on a regular basis, sign up for a newsletter. You might choose one from a publication or thought leader in your industry, or perhaps one of Harvard Business Review’s various newsletter offerings, like its “Management Tip of the Day” or its “Women at Work” letter.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash