Book Review – Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders From the Rest by William Vanderbloemen
Learning the 12 traits of “unicorns” – the worlds’ top talent – was fascinating for me! The author, William Vanderbloemen, backs his essential habits assessments with true stories and interesting data to drive the importance of each skill home.
As I read the book, I kept a list of the traits he outlines, and noted if I “have it”, need to “work on it”, or if I “need help” in that area. Using this book to shine a light on where I excel was good, but the best part was discovering the areas where I need to do some more work (there are four of them for me). My top 5 takeaways from this book are:
- I was grateful for the reminder that “not all of us can become exceptional in certain skills, but we can get better and reach our own highest potential”. As a high achiever myself, this thought was both inspirational and grounding at the same time.
- People with purpose tend to live longer – I did not know that before reading this book, but it makes sense! Vanderbloemen shares that having a purpose helps people stay psychologically stable.
- “You can have control or you can have growth, but you can’t have both.” I’m still pondering this thought because I’m not sure I agree with it. I would love to hear your thoughts about this! Send me an email at hi@hellocoaching.info letting me know if you agree or disagree, and why…
- The quote in the book that resonated most with me was this: “Aspirational is out and authentic is in.” I know that I gravitate toward the raw, real, messy truths of others, and in my business I experience this same sentiment reflected back at me. The mistakes (and lessons), the journey (not the results) and the sad and silly moments tend to resonate more than anything that even hints at toxic positivity. It’s a beautifully stated reminder to just be ourselves.
- As a coach, I loved this thought: “The fastest way to achieve better self-awareness is also the hardest. You have to trust others to tell you your blind spots. This isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it.” I often say if growth and change were easy, we would all be walking around as billionaires with supermodel bodies. The truth is, we don’t always know our own challenges and having a reliable friend, family member, colleague or coach to help us welcome outside perspective to learn and build from is the best way to set ourselves up for success.
I really enjoyed Be the Unicorn and I am enjoying the follow up work I have committed to do in the four areas where I discovered I have more work to do.
If you want to read this book (which I highly recommend for anyone looking for ways to improve as a leader), you can purchase it here.
