history nerds are more likely to inspire their teams. be that nerd.

What your Diverse Group of People Doing Something that Matters is up to, no matter how cutting edge it is, fits into some long tradition. It has a history. Time spent reading and understanding that history is time well spent. You can use that big context to right-size problems, inspire your team, and pick better, more specific heroes and boogeymen (“there’s a lot we don’t know. but we know for sure we don’t want to be like that organization and we do want to be like this one.”)

If you’re stuck in a rut in your professional development, not sure how to spend funds or time to advance, read history. The more specific that history is to your organization and sector, the better. 

Reading history doesn’t yield readily applicable hacks, like a listicle about hot keys in Gmail. It is a longer term investment in making meaning for your team - one of the roles that a leader has special power and responsibility to play well. 

When crucible moments arrive, good or bad, your people will need you to tell them what is happening, why it matters, and how “people like us” or “teams like this one” move forward. History helps. 

-Eric