Can reading fiction enhance your leadership capability and wellbeing?
- Tamar Balkin
- Dec 8, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
“But there you give me one, another you just finished
You're my library, always open for business
But you never show it, you're just sitting with it..
Line after line, when you're taking it in”
Book Club by Arkells (Click here for the song)
"I know I need to prioritise leisure activities, particularly reading fiction. But fiction is indulgent and overly time-consuming. There is so much else I need to read to keep ahead in my career."
Coaching client
In my coaching work, I often emphasise the importance of wellbeing non-negotiables, the practices that sustain my clients when life becomes busy. Recently, while listening to a podcast, I was reminded of the well-being benefits of reading. Regular readers know that when basic psychological needs are compromised due to lack of freedom, fulfilment and overwork, people feel controlled, incompetent, or isolated. Fortunately, researchers have found that reading for leisure fosters autonomy, competence, and social connection, reducing the likelihood of negative psychological outcomes even in stressful circumstances.
What are the benefits of reading fiction?
“Books invite us to feel unfamiliar feelings and think alien thoughts. They train us in empathy and make us feel less lonely. They help us to discover what we believe, what we value, and what we never imagined.”
Shilo Brooks
Psychologists have found that reading fiction enhances well-being and cultivates leadership capabilities. Whilst many people read for enjoyment, researchers have found that it has many mental health benefits. Reading reduces stress and anxiety, creates a quiet space for focus, and promotes mindfulness. Regular readers know that the simple act of sitting down with a book can lower stress and produce a mild feeling of joy and contentment.
There is much evidence to indicate that reading fiction improves empathy. Deep immersion in literary fiction broadens the reader’s perspective and enables consideration of others’ viewpoints. Researchers explain that this experience enhances an individual’s Theory Of Mind, that is, their ability to understand that others hold beliefs and desires different from one’s own.
Most novels contain complexity, characters are flawed, choices are difficult, and outcomes are unpredictable. Fictional scenarios tend to reflect the interpersonal challenges leaders face daily.
Research shows that reading about how complex interpersonal situations are resolved, and the implications that follow, gives leaders a safe way to observe decision‑making, reflect on motives and trade‑offs, and apply these insights to similar challenges in the workplace. Leaders often face situations without clear answers, and fiction trains the reader to tolerate uncertainty. By immersing oneself in narratives where endings are not obvious, the reader practices cognitive flexibility, improves their self-awareness and their complex decision-making skills.
Research in psychology suggests that reading fiction can enhance social‑cognitive abilities. Literary fiction strengthens social cognition because it requires the reader to construct social contexts mentally. Thus, the ability to experience realities beyond the here and now, including hypothetical events, distant worlds and other people’s subjective experiences, translates into measurable improvements in social cognition.
Psychologists and researchers emphasise that every powerful leader, at heart, must also be a skilled storyteller. Fiction does more than entertain; it teaches us how to feel and express narratives. By engaging with fiction, readers refine their communication style, learning pacing, tone, and the art of conveying vision. This practice equips leaders to rally teams, navigate difficult conversations, and inspire collective purpose.
How Does Reading make a difference?
“We can think of mindful reading in the way we think of mindful breathing, which is just focusing on your breath. Normally, when we breathe, we don’t think about it because it’s automatic. Traditional reading can be that way too; to get to the destination of finishing that book. Try to slow that down and be aware of the process actually involved in reading.”
Dr. Samantha Henry
Typically, when we read, we try to get through a book or article either to learn something or simply to find out what happens next. In contrast, researchers suggest that the most beneficial form of reading is mindful reading. This approach focuses on the act of reading itself, with no destination or goal other than being fully present and attentive to the text.
Mindful reading requires practice. It involves more than just passive skimming or multitasking, and instead, the reader engages consciously with the words. By slowing down, removing distractions, and adopting a non-judgmental attitude, readers gain a deeper understanding and richer emotional benefits. Mindful reading is also a way of respecting the author’s hard work; they definitely agonised over every word, phrase, and idea.
Literary fiction enables the reader to delve more deeply into the private inner thoughts and motivations of characters. These books tend to have a slower pace, allowing the reader to linger on the language, atmosphere, and explore more profound thoughts and themes.
Researchers found that when readers take time with literary fiction and pay close attention, they imagine the setting and characters vividly. Psychologists call this ability to be mentally carried into the story, transportation. When transported, readers report feelings of warmth and compassion, which translates to helping tendencies. Engagement with fictional characters mirrors the processes by which we infer the mental states of real people. Regular readers know the feeling of crying alongside a character or grieving their loss. That connection facilitates our understanding of social information in a simplified, compelling way. Fiction simulates real social interactions, giving us a chance to connect with people who are different from us, broadening our capacity for empathy and social inference.
In addition, deep immersion in fictional worlds, discussing books with others, and reflecting on stories can improve mood, enhance well-being, and reduce distress.
Researchers have found that the benefits of reading are dependent on both lifetime exposure to fiction and the extent to which a reader feels transported by a narrative.
“Recreational reading, also referred to as volitional reading, or leisure reading, is defined as the voluntary choice to read preferred books during one’s free-time.”
Levine, S. L., Cherrier, S., Holding, A. C., & Koestner, R. (2022)
The evidence suggests that the benefits of reading depend on autonomy. When reading is pursued for personal interest, joy, or meaning, it fosters well-being and resilience. Regular readers know that individuals who are driven by personal interest, intrinsic enjoyment, or a sense of meaning tend to make greater progress toward their goals. Thus, when reading is pursued for pleasure, self-development, or personal satisfaction, it will be self-perpetuating and improve well-being. The pleasure of fiction is unique to each individual. What fascinates one person may bore another. The key is cultivating autonomy, choosing books that resonate personally and engaging with them mindfully.
Although the short-term impact of leisure reading may be modest, researchers have found that consistent engagement accumulates. Reading one book a month can, over a year, produce meaningful improvements in mental health. This pattern extends to other self-care activities like yoga or meditation: each small dose matters, but regular practice creates powerful effects. Researchers have found that when reading becomes a habit, its cumulative impact on wellbeing and leadership is profound.
So what about my client?
During the coaching session, it became clear that the client had overcome a major obstacle at work and recognised the need to pause and acknowledge his accomplishment. As is often the case in these circumstances, I encouraged him to reward himself with an enjoyable leisure activity he hadn’t undertaken for some time. He reflected and said, “I’m going to sit in my favourite chair and read the novel that has been collecting dust on my shelf for six months. I know once I start, I just won’t stop.”
Readers Challenge:
I challenge you to take the time to read a novel, slow down, savour the prose, and allow yourself to ponder the language.
As an avid reader, I wanted to share with you some books I have read recently that highlight the power of reading, and I hope will inspire the non-readers to delve into the transformative world of fiction.
The Air Raid Book Club, Annie Lyons
The Bogan Book Club, John Larkin
The Last Bookshop in London, Madeline Martin
The Little Wartime Library, Kate Thompson
The Wartime Book Club, Kate Thompson
84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff
The Librarians of Rue de Picardie, Janet Skeslien Charles
The Paris Library, Janet Skeslien Charles
I’m always open to book recommendations, so take a moment, click here and email me your favourite novels of 2025.
Special thanks:
Huge thanks to Bari Weiss and Shilo Brooks for the interview that sparked this post (click here to listen). And to my book club, for our monthly catch‑ups where we laugh, chat, and nurture our shared love of novels.
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References:
Bone, J. K., et al. (2025). The decline in reading for pleasure over 20 years of the American Time Use Survey. iScience, 28(9), 113288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113288
Bookish Brews. (2022, May 29). Benefits of reading fiction: 7 studies that encourage reading. Bookish Brews. https://bookishbrews.com/the-benefits-of-reading/
Dowrick, C., Billington, J., Robinson, J., Hamer, A., & Williams, C. (2012). Get into Reading as an intervention for common mental health problems: Exploring catalysts for change. Medical Humanities, 38(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2011-010083
Levine, S. L., Cherrier, S., Holding, A. C., & Koestner, R. (2022). For the love of reading: Recreational reading reduces psychological distress in college students and autonomous motivation is the key. Journal of American College Health, 70(1), 158–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1728280
Marshall, R. (2020). Reading fiction: The benefits are numerous. British Journal of General Practice, 70(691), 79. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp20X707945
Mar, R. A., & Oatley, K. (2008). The function of fiction is the abstraction and simulation of social experience. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(3), 173–192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00073.
Panero, M. E., Weisberg, D. S., Black, J., Goldstein, T. R., Barnes, J. L., Brownell, H., & Winner, E. (2016). Does reading a single passage of literary fiction really improve theory of mind? An attempt at replication. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000064
Stansfield, J., & Bunce, L. (2014). The relationship between empathy and reading fiction: Separate roles for cognitive and affective components. Journal of European Psychology Students, 5(3), 9–18. https://doi.org/10.5334/jeps.ca
Tamir, D. I., Bricker, A. B., Dodell-Feder, D., & Mitchell, J. P. (2016). Reading fiction and reading minds: The role of simulation in the default network. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(2), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv114
Weiss, B. (2025). Can Reading Fix Men? [online] Thefp.com. Available at: https://www.thefp.com/p/can-reading-fix-men-shilo-brooks-bari-weiss.
Psychology Today. (2025, November 21). Can reading fiction actually make you happier? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/frazzlebrain/202511/can-reading-fiction-actually-make-you-happier
Baylor College of Medicine. (2023, October 5). Mindful reading and mental health. Baylor College of Medicine News. https://www.bcm.edu/news/mindful-reading-and-mental-health
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