Reading is a huge effort for many people, a bore for others, and, believe it or not, many people prefer watching TV.

Obviously, every child should be given the best possible opportunity to acquire literacy skills.

Reading is a huge effort for many people, a bore for others, and, believe it or not, many people prefer watching TV.

Some researchers sensibly suggest that rather than worrying too much about which programs our children are watching, we should concentrate on trying to reduce the total amount of time they spend in front of the screen.

Yet in our enthusiasm for the idea that everyone should be able to read and write fluently, we may be missing a crucial point: in today's culture, finely honed literacy skills are simply not as important as they once were.

One of the most important responsibilities of leaders in any setting - including business organisations - is to tell us our own story; to explain us to ourselves; to help us weave some meaning and purpose into the fabric of our lives; to illuminate our understanding of where we have come from; to paint word pictures of our future onto which we can project our aspirations.

It's Australian to do such things because, however uncivilised they may seem, it's human to do them.