A little light reading (that’s anything but)

It’s Required Reading time here on the Career Resumes blog, and the book I want to flag this time around has come back on my radar twice in the last month, in two very different ways.

It’s also, by sheer coincidence, celebrating its 18th anniversary this month. Back in 1990 (has it been that long?!), Random House published Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! It came into our family courtesy of my wife’s Aunt Joyce, in honor of my wife’s 22nd birthday and impending college graduation. It now sits on our son’s bookshelf, and he pulled it out last week and asked for it as his bedtime reading.

The thing that amazes me most about this book is how it manages to be inspiring and realistic at the same time. Immediately after it talks about you, the reader, soaring to high heights, it follows with an “Except when you don’t, because sometimes, you won’t.” And after describing some of the challenges that happen to all of us, the text turns back to the triumphant.

For a book on Amazon to have a five-star average on 299 reviews is astounding. That’s how well loved Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is.

Now, you’re an executive, or manager, or professional. And maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “C’mon, you’re recommending a kids book to me?” Yes, I am. I was inspired by Beth Kennedy of Benatti Training and Development, who included the book in her list of tomes she endorses on her website.

She has 15 years of corporate training under her belt, including Fortune 50 (not 500, 50!) experience. She also specializes in leadership, executive, career, and life coaching, and she put Dr. Seuss right alongside What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

So, my recommendation? If you need an excuse, take your kids to the library and pick it up. The lessons apply at any age.

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