Each year, after reading dozens of leadership books I select my pick for “best new leadership book” of the year.
For 2024, that book is, Be The Unicorn: Data-driven Habits That Separate The Best Leaders From The Rest, by William Vanderbloemen (founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group).
Even though this book came out in late 2023, it is better than any other leadership book I read during 2024, so that is why I choose it. It’s that good. It’s timely, incredibly practical, and immediately usable for any leader wherever they are on their leadership journey. Plus, last month Vanderbloemen released a workbook that is the perfect companion to his book.
Through extensive research of more than 30,000 top leaders and proprietary data, Vanderbloemen has identified the twelve habits that the best of the best leaders have in common. These superstar leaders are the unicorns – highly desirable but that are difficult to find or obtain.
The 12
habits, essential qualities, and leadership categories are:
- The Fast
- The Authentic
- The Agile
- The Solver
- The Anticipator
- The Self-Aware
- The Curious
- The Connected
- The Likable
- The Productive
- The Purpose Driven
The book provides you with all the details about each habit and then you can use the workbook as a tactical guide for assessing your strengths and weaknesses within each category.
“Each leadership category gives exercises designed for critical assessment and improvement to work through areas you could use the most growth,” says Vanderbloemen. “For example, if you need help with productivity, one exercise is prioritizing daily achievable goals along with stretch goals.”
“The workbook is perfect for anyone who wants to improve in their current position, educate the incoming workforce, or start a new opportunity empowered to do their best,” adds Vanderbloemen.
Some of my favorite takeaways from the book include:
- People who stand out in work and life possess the power to get what they want and inspire others while doing so.
- Quick response time in business and relationships is almost always beneficial.
- You don’t have to be perfect, just authentic.
- Authenticity can do a lot of the heaving lifting for you in terms of building trust and confidence.
- Humility is essential. When you’re able to set aside your ego, your ability to become a unicorn increases exponentially.
- Agility thrives on diversity, new ideas, and fresh experiences.
- Unicorns learn the difference between a problem that needs to be solved and something to let go.
- Preparation earns respect and buy-in.
- The self-aware leaders create a better, more efficient culture and happier teams.
- You must trust others to tell you your blind spots.
- Every part of being curious can boil down to this: asking and listening.
- Getting connected is easier than ever but staying connected takes work.
William Vanderbloemen
Today, Vanderbloemen shares these additional insights with us:
Question: What has the reaction been to your book so far?
Vanderbloemen: I’ve been really pleased with the way the book is helping lots of people, including groups of readers I didn’t foresee. The book consistently is one of the top titles in “Job Hunting” and has become a favorite of high school and college counselors looking to suggest books to their rising seniors. But more even more than that, we are seeing lots of HR managers buy cases of books for their teams. That led us to develop a workbook to accompany Be The Unicorn.
Question: Of the 12 habits, which one or two have you found most people struggle to master?
Vanderbloemen: Far and away, the least common habit is “Self Awareness.” Ironically, the “unicorns” we interviewed said it was the one habit that ranked last for them among the 12 (and they are way above average in this area). Furthermore, in our survey of 250,000 random individuals, we discovered that 91% of the population believes they are “above average” in self-awareness. So, it is the habit that the best know they need to work on, and the biggest blind spot among the rest of us.
Question: Which habits, if any, have become increasingly more important to companies during the past 15 years while running your executive search firm?
Vanderbloemen: The short answer is “all of them.” I say that intentionally as the need for really good “soft skills” (I call them “human to human” skills) rises and their value is a premium. We are headed into a decade of more automation and technology. That means human to human interaction will become the gold standard in hiring and getting promoted.
If I were to pick one, it would be anticipation. The technological breakthroughs we are about to see are going to make the Renaissance look like a non-event. That means that the ability to anticipate changes that are coming will be a golden asset. A close second place goes to agility. Because when these changes happen (and when they snowball), the people who can adjust, pivot, and adapt will be well ahead of the rest of us.
Question: In what ways does the new workbook enhance or expand on the takeaways from the original book, Be the Unicorn?
Vanderbloemen: Be The Unicorn is about learning the habits that the best of the best practice. That takes work. And readers kept asking us to give them a place to work at a deeper level. So, it was only natural to author a workbook that would enhance the learning and help people do the hard work of personal development.
What I didn’t foresee is how many teams would want to participate in learning together, and how many leaders of teams would want their whole organization to read and study together to help the whole company stand out. Even families want to read this together.
So, the hunger from readers (and better than projected sales for a year now) led us to both enhance the individual experience with the book and provide a vehicle for team learning.
Question: What is one immediate learning you hope readers take away from completing the workbook?
Vanderbloemen: Momentum is the best friend of someone trying to change. My hope is that the workbook helps create actionable steps readers can take and catalyze tangible progress that will lead to momentum.
Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me a copy of the book and workbook.
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