Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest
- Downloads：8628
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-12-13 06:21:57
- Update Date：2025-09-14
- Status：finish
- Author：William Vanderbloemen
- ISBN：1400247101
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Fred Fontz
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"Be the Unicorn" by William Vanderbloemen is a book that falls right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the genre it belongs to。 While it has its merits， it seems to aspire to be a modern-day "How to Make Friends and Influence People" but falls short of achieving that lofty goal。One of the book's strengths lies in its research， examples， and the real-life stories it presents。 Vanderbloemen draws from a wealth of experiences to illustrate his points， making the content relatable and engag "Be the Unicorn" by William Vanderbloemen is a book that falls right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the genre it belongs to。 While it has its merits， it seems to aspire to be a modern-day "How to Make Friends and Influence People" but falls short of achieving that lofty goal。One of the book's strengths lies in its research， examples， and the real-life stories it presents。 Vanderbloemen draws from a wealth of experiences to illustrate his points， making the content relatable and engaging。 The inclusion of these anecdotes adds depth to the book。However， "Be the Unicorn" has its share of downsides。 The book tends to rely heavily on quotes from customers， which， after a while， can start to feel repetitive and less impactful。 Another concern is the statistics in the book， which largely come from self-reporting。 This can raise questions about the reliability of the data and the potential for bias in the results。 How many people can accurately identify what their greatest trait is？ Is there someone who identifies as being purpose-driven when their only purpose is to complete the task at hand？ Some of these traits are left open to interpretation as to whether they're even positive or not。 Having purpose in your work is an easy positive。 For a book written after the pandemic， being "agile" seems like an obvious postiive。 Then there is "fast-responding" where Vanderbloemen mentions a secret test。 He （or a team member） sends a text late at night （think 10:30 PM） and waits to see what the response time is。 Apparently， a slow response time 'doesn't hurt" a potential candidate， but a fast time （less than 1 hour） is a huge bonus。 For starters， getting "bonus points" for doing something means that it's detrimental for those who don't。 More importantly， I think the fast-response at that level is arguably detrimental。 One person may see that as being dedicated， in touch， etc。 Another could， reasonably， see it as being overconnected， lacking boundaries， and setting yourself up for burnout。 Another significant issue is the implication that anyone can possess all 12 traits discussed in the book。 Realistically， expecting anyone to exhibit all 12 traits is a bit unreasonable and may set unrealistic expectations for readers。This was an easy and enjoyable read that provides some valuable insights。 The book contains memorable quotes and relatable stories， but it may not be the game-changer it aspires to be。 While it's worth a read for those interested in the subject matter， it may not set you apart or guarantee instant success。 It's an average addition to the genre， offering some nuggets of wisdom but not quite reaching the heights of the classics it seeks to emulate。 。。。more
Jesse
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Good thought-provoking book for folks who want to level up their work performance--perhaps in the new year。 The many references to the pandemic will probably hurt this books chances to age well。 I also thought it would have been helpful to group the 12 Habits （more traits， I think） into similar categories。 Four of the traits， for example， relate to outlook。 Four more related to work tactics。 That sort of organization would have been much more intuitive。 Good book overall。
Pdaves
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Really insightful。 12 solid qualities that people can grow in…only wish it went in to a little more depth on how to develop the qualities。
B。
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I won a copy of this one in a Goodreads Giveaway。 On a fundamental level， the book doesn't really work。 The idea of a "unicorn" in the business world is that there's a perfect person for that position - not twelve unicorn styles of leadership。 Just， no。 On top of that basic premise being flawed， if you're one of those people who likes going to seminars where the speaker sounds like a used car salesman/snake oil salesman， well， this book is for you。 "I don't like to brag， but。。。" style messages a I won a copy of this one in a Goodreads Giveaway。 On a fundamental level， the book doesn't really work。 The idea of a "unicorn" in the business world is that there's a perfect person for that position - not twelve unicorn styles of leadership。 Just， no。 On top of that basic premise being flawed， if you're one of those people who likes going to seminars where the speaker sounds like a used car salesman/snake oil salesman， well， this book is for you。 "I don't like to brag， but。。。" style messages are just obnoxious and this book is chock full of them。 It's pretty gross actually。 My partner has an absolute shit boss， though a nice enough person， and I was going to pass this along if it was any decent， but it's not。 That's right - this book， acquired for free， isn't worth passing on to someone else for free （IMO）。 The only reason I'm not giving it 1 star is because I did read the whole thing for its sheer ridiculousness value。 But trust me， it's a really big time waster。 。。。more
Brad
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Superficial。
Carol Standish-Leigh
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An interesting read from the author。 The twelve soft skills required for a “unicorn” are discussed。 A unicorn in the sense of the book is an individual who stands out from the crowd in the jobs market。 As a manager in a previous existence， I believe that soft skills were under valued at a job interview。 If the scoring criteria is mostly down to experience， then often the ideal person for the role and team will lose out。 Soft skills are the thing that gives the edge to a candidate who will enhanc An interesting read from the author。 The twelve soft skills required for a “unicorn” are discussed。 A unicorn in the sense of the book is an individual who stands out from the crowd in the jobs market。 As a manager in a previous existence， I believe that soft skills were under valued at a job interview。 If the scoring criteria is mostly down to experience， then often the ideal person for the role and team will lose out。 Soft skills are the thing that gives the edge to a candidate who will enhance the workforce。 The author discusses the 12 different skills he and his firm have identified and give tips and advice on developing those skills。 Overall a good real and valuable information for those who want to stand out to potential employers。 。。。more
Carissa Janes
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I wasn't a fan of the style of this book。 Twelve unicorn styles seems like a lot of leadership styles。 I think that each of these roles are important to a team， not just a leader， but as the author points out， that may just be the collaborative millennial in me。 I'm used to reading researched-based articles， so inserting quotes from a person and citing Tonya F。 seemed like the kind of things that are made up or less， well。。。， trustworthy。 This also refers to COVID and the pandemic a lot and I'm I wasn't a fan of the style of this book。 Twelve unicorn styles seems like a lot of leadership styles。 I think that each of these roles are important to a team， not just a leader， but as the author points out， that may just be the collaborative millennial in me。 I'm used to reading researched-based articles， so inserting quotes from a person and citing Tonya F。 seemed like the kind of things that are made up or less， well。。。， trustworthy。 This also refers to COVID and the pandemic a lot and I'm over it。 We've all adapted and moved on and it's annoying to still blame it 3 years later。 This read more like a journal than a research-based topic。 。。。more
Raisa
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Easy to read but not exactly data-driven。 The author chose 12 characteristics that he thought were important， found some data about each， presented in a way that drives his point but doesn't consider its flaws， and added a fun story from his life to it。 Nothing very wrong with it but not exactly objective。 I did not love the structure and ended up giving up the book after the few first chapters。 Easy to read but not exactly data-driven。 The author chose 12 characteristics that he thought were important， found some data about each， presented in a way that drives his point but doesn't consider its flaws， and added a fun story from his life to it。 Nothing very wrong with it but not exactly objective。 I did not love the structure and ended up giving up the book after the few first chapters。 。。。more
Caylie Gerhart
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I love that this book is data-driven and gives tangible tips for developing the 12 unicorn habits。 I’m excited to start applying these skills towards my professional career and working towards becoming irreplaceable。
William Attaway
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Outstanding book by William Vanderbloemen。 Chock full of insights， based on data （not anecdotes or conjecture） - this is a great read if you want to learn， grow， and stand out from the crowd。
Darya
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The book is easy to fly through and can definitely be remarkable for the storytelling side。 Is it really possible to become a successful professional by developing those simple and yet difficult skills？ There are twelve traits that the majority of successful people possess: being fast and agile， authentic， problem solver， anticipated， self aware of abilities， prepared for different circumstances， connected and curious， purpose driven， productive and likeable。 There is evidence and engaging stori The book is easy to fly through and can definitely be remarkable for the storytelling side。 Is it really possible to become a successful professional by developing those simple and yet difficult skills？ There are twelve traits that the majority of successful people possess: being fast and agile， authentic， problem solver， anticipated， self aware of abilities， prepared for different circumstances， connected and curious， purpose driven， productive and likeable。 There is evidence and engaging stories behind each concept to prove the point。 In my view， developing and cultivating those traits and Skillman simply make each of us a better person。 。。。more
Jules
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“Unicorn: something that is highly desirable but that is difficult to find or obtain”In honor of my first semester of grad school starting soon， I was so excited to get this ARC！ I found this book to be insightful on the soft skills needed to stand out as a leader and how to develop said skills。 However， I believe using a control group and testing studies would’ve been productive in backing up the claim that “anyone can learn to be a unicorn”。 It’s one thing to observe habits these “unicorns” po “Unicorn: something that is highly desirable but that is difficult to find or obtain”In honor of my first semester of grad school starting soon， I was so excited to get this ARC！ I found this book to be insightful on the soft skills needed to stand out as a leader and how to develop said skills。 However， I believe using a control group and testing studies would’ve been productive in backing up the claim that “anyone can learn to be a unicorn”。 It’s one thing to observe habits these “unicorns” possess and write a book about what they all have in common。 It’s another to conduct studies across multiple companies and use control groups to back up this statement。The stories shared seem to show what works best for Vanderbloemen’s company along with a few individual statements， a story here and there， and surveys for each habit rather than showing a wide variety of companies。While all good practices to keep in mind， what makes an individual a “unicorn” to one company may not be the same for another company。 I would’ve loved to see more exploration into the “unicorns” of other companies and industries。 Though a quick and easy read， nothing about this book stands out。 Dale Carnegie’s “How To Win Friends & Influence People” did this genre of business books increasingly better。 （There’s a reason it’s still a timeless classic that people still refer to！） William Vanderbloemen’s “Be The Unicorn” is rather generic and reads like just about every other book in this genre。 。。。more
Karin H。
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I strongly recommend this book to anyone aiming to enter the workforce or elevate their performance。 It brilliantly delves into twelve essential traits that lead to success， often referred to as the "unicorn" qualities。 The content is presented in a clear and accessible manner， making it easy to grasp and implement in real-life situations。 Personally， I'm thrilled to integrate numerous recommendations and insights from the book into my work environment。 It's a valuable addition to our library co I strongly recommend this book to anyone aiming to enter the workforce or elevate their performance。 It brilliantly delves into twelve essential traits that lead to success， often referred to as the "unicorn" qualities。 The content is presented in a clear and accessible manner， making it easy to grasp and implement in real-life situations。 Personally， I'm thrilled to integrate numerous recommendations and insights from the book into my work environment。 It's a valuable addition to our library collection that will undoubtedly inspire and guide others towards achieving their goals。#BetheUnicorn #NetGalley 。。。more
Scott Ward
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Vanderbloemen and his team culled their extensive experience to find the behavioral and character nuggets that make particular people those successful go-to heroes in our organizations。 A Unicorn， according to Vanderbloemen， is the “rare” individual who successfully gets the job and succeeds in the job。 He describes several attributes of the Unicorns and also reports how these Unicorns view themselves， how they described themselves。His first case study is the Fast Responder。 He claims those type Vanderbloemen and his team culled their extensive experience to find the behavioral and character nuggets that make particular people those successful go-to heroes in our organizations。 A Unicorn， according to Vanderbloemen， is the “rare” individual who successfully gets the job and succeeds in the job。 He describes several attributes of the Unicorns and also reports how these Unicorns view themselves， how they described themselves。His first case study is the Fast Responder。 He claims those types get the job。 Admittedly only 2。6% of those surveyed thought they were Fast Responders。 However， the most common complaint among job candidates is that the organizations take too much time to respond and decide。 Does that mean the deliberative， not-wanting-to-risk-a-hiring-mistake companies lose out “winning” the Fast Responding Unicorn？ Because the Fast Responder is not going to wait for the organization to decide。 How does Vanderbloemen coach his organizational clients not to lose this type of Unicorn？ And if you need Unicorns to be successful， does that mean his clients， if they’re like typical hiring organizations， aren’t？ In this chapter， he touts those companies who were first in the market as exemplars for would=be Unicorns。 Unfortunately in our Information era， the longest-life technology companies like Alphabet （Google）， Apple and Meta （Facebook） were not first-in-market in any of their endeavors。 They found the glaring gaps in consumer experience with the then market leaders and surpassed their competencies and created competitive advantages that their competitors didn’t know the market demanded。 Likewise， current auto manufacturing behemoths were not the first in market either。 Perhaps the other characteristics of Unicorns should be prioritized。 Vanderbloemen claims you can learn to be a Unicorn。 Most great leaders postulate that it’s their job to create Unicorns。 I once had a lengthy discussion with a CEO who claimed he could not find any good employees。 After nearly an hour of inquiry， I concluded， “I guess I’ve been lucky that 98% of my employees have been great。” You get what you expect to get and what you project， such as trustworthiness。 We are all subject to confirmation bias: you only see what you believe you’ll see。 In one fable， a gas station manager is asked by two different visitors what the townspeople are like。 After he asks them what their hometown neighbors are like， one describes a wonderful group of people while the other describes unhelpful， gossipy， backbiting busybodies。 He tells each that his neighbors are exactly the same。 What the visitors experienced in their hometown said more about what they expected to see than what reality was。 Teachers learn that if they teach their students as if they expect them to get very good grades， the students will excel。 Likewise， great leaders can create unicorns。 So were Vanderbloemen’s unicorns able to pick up those traits on their own or were they lucky enough to have good mentors， while the rest of the candidates weren’t given a chance to shine==they didn’t work for organizations that valued promptness or admitting mistakes？We know the commonalities among the successful candidates Vanderbloemen studied。 We don’t know whether those commonalities are absent from the pool of unsuccessful candidates。 They weren’t studied。Like other business studies touting the keys to success， it fails to have a control group。 The author notes that his recruiting methodology reduces the candidate pool to a hundred and then they conduct lengthy interviews。 It’s these interviews that provide the data for his analysis of how to become a “unicorn。” This is like throwing 10，000 tennis balls into a swimming pool， skimming off the top 500 and then measuring what made them float。 The differences in those floating tennis balls are nonexistent。 The reason for their selection had to do with the selection algorithms—the surface area of the swimming pool， their random placement in the group determining whether they were first in the water or last， and the skimming method。 Those things determined which ones were included in the study， not anything inherent in the study’s subjects。Likewise， if we take a group of undoubtedly successful leaders familiar to Vanderbloemen from his divinity school days—the disciples of Christ—and apply the author’s rules for success， we might come up with different recommendations。 Christ did not select twelve of the most prepared and qualified rabbinical students。 He pulled them from non-religious careers mostly。 They may not have made it to the round of interviews to be considered to be in a pool of Unicorns。 Were they fast-responding， authentic， agile， etc。？ Later when Judas Iscariot had to be replaced （Acts chapter 1）， what was the criteria？ Just that a person had to have a good character and have been with them the whole time。 Two people were named that we modern readers had never heard mentioned in the gospel accounts。 Did they run them through a battery of assessments and panels of interviews？ They rolled the dice basically。 Even with this “slipshod” method of determining candidates to lead a movement， they built one that has endured for millennia and grown exponentially from a few hundred to a few billion。Let’s even apply the Unicorn traits to the most touted evangelist in the New Testament: Paul。 If Vanderbloemen had been a 1st-century recruiter and career counselor， would he have suggested something like this？ “You know， Paul， you’ve been expelled from cities， almost assassinated， stoned and jailed。 Shouldn’t you stick with making tents？ You seem to be really good at that。” Would Paul have made Vanderbloemen’s top one hundred candidates and gotten to the next round—the lengthy interview—and qualified to be included in his study reported in this book， or would he have been disqualified based on his spotty record？Perhaps the main commonality between Vanderbloemen’s successful candidates and those of the 1st-century church is that those people were taught， mentored/disciples by a great leader at some point in their career。 Might we all aspire to be such a great leader and turn others into Unicorns。There’s nothing that’s new here。 Vanderbloemen’s perspective is helpful in terms of how hiring managers view these behaviors and character traits。A piece of advice for the reader: do not try to develop and exhibit all of the traits。 Even the surveyed Unicorns acknowledge one as a top trait though they may practice the others at times。 So pick one or two to work on and develop those in order to be attractive to the types of organizations that appreciate them。 。。。more
Dora Okeyo
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I love information backed with research and this book shares 12 habits that set aside some of the best leaders in various fields across the globe from the rest， and if you think that these 12 habits are easy and that everyone has them-well， it got me at the very first one 'authenticity，' and in a world of social media and the rush to create likes， this right here is difficult to gauge or exhibit。Thanks Netgalley for the eARC， anyone looking to improve their leadership skills would definitely dra I love information backed with research and this book shares 12 habits that set aside some of the best leaders in various fields across the globe from the rest， and if you think that these 12 habits are easy and that everyone has them-well， it got me at the very first one 'authenticity，' and in a world of social media and the rush to create likes， this right here is difficult to gauge or exhibit。Thanks Netgalley for the eARC， anyone looking to improve their leadership skills would definitely draw lessons from this book。 。。。more
Dana
，