You Don’t Read. That’s the Problem.

Every shortcut you take in reading shows up in your results.

Let’s just say it. Most people in business today are functionally illiterate. Not because they can’t technically read, but because they won’t actually slow down and do it. They skim. They graze. They glance at the first few lines of an email, nod like they got it, and plow ahead. Then they wonder why the project missed the mark or the client is confused or the plan didn’t work. Simple. You didn’t fucking read it.

Quick note: If you legitimately struggle with reading due to dyslexia or other learning differences, this isn’t aimed at you. But let’s be clear…you don’t get a free pass on understanding. You’re still expected to get the message, just through a different route. Use the tools. Dictation. Read-aloud software. A sharp assistant. Voice notes. Whatever it takes. You’re not exempt from clarity. You’re just responsible for getting there differently. Own that.

Most people don’t have a communication problem. They have a comprehension problem.

I see it all the time. A client asks me or ChatGPT to create a detailed, step-by-step plan. We deliver. It’s good. Specific. Actionable. Thought-through. A week later, they’re asking questions that were clearly answered. Or worse, they implement a random slice of it and wonder why it fell apart. Because they never read the damn plan. They skimmed. Maybe read the first bullet. Maybe.

Same thing in Slack. Someone writes a clean, clear breakdown of an issue or update. A couple hours later, someone else chimes in asking something that was already addressed—right there, two lines above. But they didn’t read it. They scanned. They assumed. They added noise. Now the thread is off-track, and the whole thing has to get re-explained.

Don’t blame your team for being unclear if you refuse to read what they wrote.

This is bigger than missed info. This is about your ability to lead. Because if you can't fully read, you can't fully think. And if you can’t think, you can’t build anything real. You’ll stay reactive. You’ll keep patching holes. You’ll keep reworking what should’ve worked the first time. Skimming makes everything take longer. It’s a false economy of attention. You save five minutes and lose five days.

Skimming is just procrastination in disguise.

And it doesn’t stop at communication. I’ve seen architects deliver stunning design packages that fall apart under scrutiny. Lines don’t line up. Measurements contradict. The spec sheet misses core elements. Why? Because someone didn’t read the drawings. Not really. They admired the design, felt proud of the renderings, and never sat with the technical detail long enough to catch the errors. They skimmed their own work.

Sloppiness always hides in the parts you didn’t read.

This is everywhere. Marketing plans with missing steps. Financial models with broken formulas. Strategy decks with a strong start and a weak finish. Half-read books, half-digested insights, half-remembered frameworks. It’s the curse of the modern mind. We think speed equals competence. But speed without precision is just busyness in a costume.

Want to lead? Want to be the one people trust? Then read. Actually read. Not pretend-read. Not vibe-read. Not get-the-gist read. Read it all. The Slack thread. The email. The proposal. The draft. The instructions. The financials. The feedback. The client brief. Every word. If someone put in the time to write clearly, you put in the time to understand fully. That’s the deal.

You can’t execute well on things you only half-read.

The best leaders I know don’t need things repeated. They don’t ask for clarification on something they already have in front of them. They read it. They digest it. They act. And they do it better than everyone else, not because they’re smarter, but because they’re more focused and less fragile.

Reading carefully is one of the last remaining business superpowers.

So let me say it again for the skimmers in the back: If you want to level up, read the whole thing. Always. Don’t ask someone to explain something they already took the time to write out for you. Don’t force your team to re-deliver what you didn’t have the patience to read. Don’t let your brain trick you into thinking fast means done. It means unfinished. It means misunderstood. It means you’ll be circling back later, wasting everyone’s time including your own.

And if you skimmed this article? That’s fine. Just know you’re proving the point.