How To Find The Job You Love

In 2024, I named Be The Unicorn: Data-driven Habits That Separate The Best Leaders From The Rest, by William Vanderbloemen, as the best new leadership book of that year.

The book is timely, incredibly practical, and immediately usable for any leader wherever they are on their leadership journey.

Through extensive research of more than 30,000 top leaders and proprietary data, Vanderbloemen identified in the book 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.

And now, Vanderbloemen followed up that gem of a book with another terrific book called, Work How You Are Wired: 12 Data-Driven Steps To Finding A Job You Love. It’s a great companion book to Be The Unicorn.

Those 12 steps align with these 12 personality traits/interpersonal habits:

Fast
Authentic
Agile
Solver
Anticipator
Prepared
Self-aware
Curious
Connected
Likeable
Productive
Purpose-driven

In the book you’ll learn key takeaways for finding the best jobs tied to your specific trait. For example, Vanderbloemen recommends for a person with the fast trait, they should look for jobs that require quick decision-making and high levels of attentiveness. They should avoid jobs with even a whiff of bureaucracy or slow-moving gears.

In the book, he also highlights for each of the other 11 traits specific positions to avoid at all costs based on someone’s work style and personality.

Vanderbloemen adds that “The most important person to learn from is yourself. When you know who you are—truly what makes you you—you can begin to narrow your wide ocean of options and draw that much closer to finding the work you are wired to do. Stop doing what doesn’t serve you and start doing what your heart and brain implore you to do.”

Two of my favorite learnings from the book are where Vanderbloemen lists the six reasons why people hate their jobs:

Toxic work environment
Bad management
Lack of work-life balance
Bad pay
Lack of opportunity for advancement
Lake of purpose

…and the six keys to being happy at work:

Having a good boss – where your boss has your best interests in mind.
Work-life balance – when you’re not on the clock 24/7.
Making enough money – when your basic needs are met in the form of a fair, living wage.
Autonomy and flexibility – where you are treated like a responsible adult who can do their work without being micromanaged.
Professional growth – having a chance to advance in your career.
Meaningful work – having a sense of purpose and believing in in your work.

William Vanderbloemen

Today, the author shares these additional insights with us:

Question: Can you explain the quiz mentioned on page 22 in the book?

Vanderbloemen: The VanderIndex is proprietary index we developed a couple of years ago. It helps individuals learn about their best interpersonal habits and places they need to work. The index was born out of our research of the top 1% of all candidates we have ever seen and an in-depth survey studying over 250.000 individuals.

Question: Can a person be more than one of the 12 traits and if so, how best do they find their ideal job?

Vanderbloemen: Of course. These 12 "lanes" for employment are built around those same 12 interpersonal habits. Nearly everyone has one or two that rise higher than the others. Knowing what those habits are will help. When paired with the DiSC inventory and Enneagram results, most people will be able to narrow down to the best lane to explore.

Question: Which one of the 12 traits does your data show is the most common and why might that be?

Vanderbloemen: Purpose-driven - Now more than ever, people seem fulfilled by doing fulfilling work. Think of Simon Sinek's viral talk, "Start with Why." This trend crosses generations but has been increasingly true with younger employees. Over 85% of all Gen Z's say that they need to know the purpose of a business to have satisfaction at work.

Question: What inspired you to author the book?

Vanderbloemen: Most Americans aren't happy with their jobs. Most managers say their teams are average or below. What would happen if people could find a pathway to discovering a job that they truly enjoyed and are truly good at? That led to the research that uncovered the pathway I write about in Work How You Are Wired.

___

"Work How You Are Wired is perfect for anyone at the start of their career journey feeling lost where to look first, or for the many of us who feel drained in a position misaligned to our personal strengths,” shares Vanderbloemen.

Vanderbloemen, founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group, has become an unlikely business expert over his long and continuing career. Combining over fifteen years of ministry experience as a Senior Pastor with the best practices of executive search, he created a brand-new industry: executive search for faith-based organizations. Prior to founding his own search company, he studied under a mentor with over 25 years of executive search experience at the highest level. Vanerbloemen also has experience as a Manager in Human Resources in a Fortune 200 company, working on integration of corporate culture and succession planning.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

How To Harness Employee Experience Design To Attract And Retain The Best Talent

Employee Experience Design (EXD) is designing with people and not for them. It’s a proven method for engaging and collaborating with your employees to help solve your most difficult workplace challenges. You’ll learn all about EXD in the new book, Employee Experience Desing: How To Co-Create Work Where People And Organizations Thrive , by Dean E. Carter , Samantha Gadd, and Mark Levy . “Many organizations are drowning in policies and initiatives. EXD is a way to reduce that burden while delivering better results both for employees and for the bottom line,” explain the authors. The book includes inspiring stories from brands like Airbnb and Patagonia, among many others, including those in retail, healthcare, hospitality, apparel, and biotech. It describes the power that’s unleashed when organizations design with and not for their employees. The first part of the book covers The Why of why EXD is so important and addresses legitimate – and tough –...

How To Survive, Reset And Then Thrive

“Uncertainty is here to stay. Rather than seeing it as an obstacle to overcome, integrate it into your strategic approach to invigorate your high-growth potential and outperform competition under any market condition,” explains Rebecca Homkes , author of the book, Survive, Reset, Thrive . “Most books aren’t honest enough about how hard it is to reset ,” adds Homkes. Yet, resetting and leaning into change is essential. “If you are ready to embrace change as a central element of your growth strategy, this book is for you.” Homkes’ book is a timely, comprehensive, and essential read for business leaders looking to take the next step toward ensuring high growth for their companies. The book brings together more than 15 years of Homkes working directly with high-growth companies of all sizes and across a wide variety of industries. Survive, Reset, Thrive (SRT) is a practical and innovative interconnected three-mode approach : Survive : Stabil...

How To Build Great Work Relationships

Here is a book I wish was published back when I was early in my career. It’s called, Bosses, Coworkers, and Building Great Work Relationships . It’s one of four books in the new Harvard Business Review ( HBR ) Work Smart Series . The book includes adapted content from 20 articles that previously appeared on HBR.org. “We probably spend more hours with our coworkers than with anyone else. So even if they’re not all perfect, it’s worth it to build connections that will provide you with support, help you network and learn, and keep your career moving forward,” shares HBR. “This book helps readers make so-so work relationships better, keep the bad ones from bringing them down, and help them build lasting connections with incredible people.” HBR adds that the book includes chapter takeaways and dozens of resources so that you can go beyond the book to engage in the media (video, audio, etc.) you learn from best. As you read Bosses, C...

How To Be A Superboss

Here are ten questions (or bundles of questions) you should ask yourself to ensure you are thinking and acting like a superboss . These are from Sydney Finkelstein 's book, Superbosses . Do you have a specific vision for your work that energizes you, and that you use to energize and inspire your team? How often do people leave your team to accept a bigger offer elsewhere? What's that like when it happens? Do you push your reports to meet only the formal goals set for the team, or are there other goals that employees sometimes also strive to achieve? How do you go about questioning your own assumptions about the business? How do you get your team to do the same about their own assumptions? How do you balance the need to delegate responsibilities to team members with the need to provide hands-on coaching to them? How much time do you usually spend coaching employees? When promoting employees, do you ever put them into challenging jobs where they potentially might fail? I...

Don't Delay Tough Conversations With Your Employees

If you have an employee who needs to improve his/her performance don't delay the tough conversation with them. If you don't address the issue right now, the employee has little chance to improve, and you'll only get more frustrated. Most employees want to do a good job. Sometimes they just don't know they aren't performing up to the required standards. Waiting until the employee's annual performance appraisal to have the tough conversation is unhealthy for you and the employee. So, address the issue now. Sit down with your employee in a private setting. Look them in the eye. First, tell them what they do well. Thank them for that good work. Then, tell them where they need to improve. Be clear. Be precise. Ask them if they understand and ask them if they need any help from you on how to do a better job. Explain to them that your taking the time to have the tough conversation means you care about them. You want them to do better. You believe they can do better. ...

How To Be A Generous Leader

Speaking about his book, The Generous Leader , author Joe Davis says, “This book is about the ways in which you can become a generous leader to be part of something bigger than yourself .” He adds that the old model for a leader – a top-down, unilateral, single-focus boss, isn’t effective in today’s workplace. “That old model no longer attracts talent, invites collaboration, or gets the best results from the team. That leader’s time is passed. Today, there is a need for a more human-centered, bighearted, authentic way to lead,” adds Davis. To help you become a generous leader, Davis introduces you to seven essential elements that he believes will develop you into a leader for the future . The seven elements are: Generous Communication : Be real to build deep connections. Be available to connect with the person, and not just the person in their role to make them feel seen. Generous Listening : Be sincerely curious about another...

Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day On January 19 By Volunteering

As the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19, volunteer or make the decision to volunteer in your community. King routinely asked “ What are you doing for others ,” and January 19th is the ideal day to ask yourself that question. The federal holiday was first observed in 1994 when Congress designated it as a National Day of Service, inspired by King’s words, “everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” You can turn to Idealist (.org)* and similar types of websites to find volunteer opportunities right in your neighborhood or nearby surrounding area. Visit the web site, type in your zip code/city, and you will be presented with a variety of organizations seeking volunteers. And, if you are a leader in the workplace, encourage your team members to volunteer in the community as individuals. Or organize team volunteer afternoons or evenings for your employees. *VolunteerMatch merged with Idealist in January 2025.

Leadership Books For Your Summer Reading

Leadership Quotes By John C. Maxwell

The real gems in John C. Maxwell's book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect , are the abundant leadership and communication quotes, such as these: To add value to others, one must first value others. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. All good communicators get to the point before their listeners start asking, "What's the point?" The first time you say something, it's heard. The second time, it's recognized, and the third time it's learned. In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand. People pay attention when something that is said connects with something they greatly desire. Maxwell also says that: Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could . The book covers five principles and five practices to help readers so they can connect one-on-one, in a group, or wit...

Explain Each Person's Relevance

Your employees appreciate clearly knowing how what they do each day specifically contributes to your company's or organization's success. So, it's important that you explain the relevance of each person's job. Help each employee or team member to understand how what they do makes a difference. Answer their questions about the significance of their work. Demonstrate how if their job isn't done well, or isn't fully completed, how that negatively impacts the rest of the process or your business' overall product or service. Sometimes in organizations too much time is spent explaining the relevance of sales positions or management positions. But, everyone on the team needs to understand their relevance and the importance of what they do.

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog