A friend of mine (we’ll call him “Mike”) said that his high school guidance counselor coached him to set his sights on being a radio disc jockey—or the governor of California. (He’s neither…so far.) But…maybe “Mike” should still read this hot-off-the-press book:
Good News! Two years ago, I introduced leaders and readers to William Vanderbloemen’s very helpful book,
Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest. Each chapter—each habit—is meaty. The foreword in
Be the Unicorn notes that the book is “…a manual for becoming unusually successful—as unusual as a mythical unicorn.”
To identify top performers (“Unicorns”) for that book, Vanderbloemen “…launched a massive study, not knowing if we would find any commonalities. The results were at the same time stunningly congruent and shockingly teachable.”
They landed on 12 “traits” and “habits” that were teachable: • The Fast, The Authentic, The Agile
• The Solver, The Anticipator, The Prepared
• The Self-Aware, The Curious, The Connected
• The Likable, The Productive, The Purpose-Driven
Gratefully, Vanderbloemen has added more meat to the bones with his latest book,
Work How You Are Wired: 12 Data-Driven Steps to Finding a Job You Love.POP QUIZ! Know people who hate their jobs? Are you hiring someone soon—hoping the person will be a good fit? (I'm guessing you can name at least three people that have authentic joy at work—they love they jobs—and bless their co-workers.
But do you know why?)
MORE GOOD NEWS! Vanderbloemen’s research and practical tools are incredibly useful. I can’t stop talking about this book! Ask my wife, Joanne, and two former college roommates from Minnesota who visited us this week.
(“Enough with the book reviews, John!”)
IMMENSELY PRACTICAL. The book includes one very informative chapter for each “Unicorn” trait.
What frustrates an Authentic team member? “Our unhappy Authentic Unicorns have fairly consistent grievances. Most express frustration with and lack of faith in management. They are overworked and feel like they’ve got the weight of the world on their shoulders. Some are simply in the wrong position.”
(Know anyone like this?)PAGE-TURNING TRUTHS. Each chapter follows a brilliant template. For example, here’s a snapshot of Chapter 4, “Swift Success: Finding Happiness as the
FAST,” using these
10 topics (the same 10 topics are discussed in each practical chapter):
1)
Descriptors for the FAST - (Example: “You get impatient with more methodical thinkers.”)
2)
Micro Traits: “Attentive” and “Decisive”
3)
Profile of “The Happiest Fast Person You Know” - Meet the director of construction for a Minneapolis-based athletic company.
4)
Careers where the FAST work best - (Examples: “Executive Assistant” and “Jamaican bobsled team member”—just 2 of 18 examples)
5)
How a FAST person relates to the “six workplace happiness factors” (see below).
6)
Where the FAST get stuck - (Example: “pushing molasses up a sandy hill”)
7)
Seven tips for managing a FAST person - (Example: “Watch which types of meetings work.”)
8)
Jobs that do not work for the FAST - (Examples: “Elder care” and “any position where you’re in charge of toddlers who insist on putting on their own shoes.”)
9)
Things to do right now to be happier - (Example: For bolstering your current distress tolerance at slow-moving things, “…lean into the speed you know and love. Take a kickboxing class, go trap shooting, or just lace up your sneakers and run out the door.”)
10)
Takeaways - (Example: “Avoid any jobs with even a whiff of bureaucracy or slow-moving gears.”)
THE 6 WORKPLACE HAPPINESS FACTORS. Brilliant (again!). The author describes how each Unicorn trait aligns with the research on the six workplace happiness factors. Example: in Chapter 7, “Figuring Out the Key to Happiness as a Solver,”
Vanderbloemen lists the six keys to happiness as they relate to the Solver: 1)
Having a good boss. One Solver had a bad boss—and he learned to “generate solutions to overcome those issues.”
2)
Work-life balance. Warning: your brain is constantly working at home (work solutions) and at work (home solutions!).
3)
Making enough money. “…if they can't see why a 10% increase in profit from last year doesn't translate to more compensation for them, they're going to take their talents elsewhere.” 4)
Autonomy and flexibility. “Autonomy and flexibility in their jobs is important, but Solvers also often thrive when they learned the value of working as a team, which is not always something they're immediately enthusiastic about.”
5)
Professional growth. “There isn't a lecture I won't attend, a visiting specialist I won't ask to coffee, or a conference I'll sit out on. If it can help me advance, I'm there.”
6)
Meaningful work. “Solvers love meaningful work, whether the world knows of their accomplishments or not.”
WHAT FRUSTRATES EACH TRAIT? Here are some clues: 1. THE FAST. “Workplace environments that lack clear priorities are a constant source of irritation for the Fast.”
2. THE AUTHENTIC. “Be vigilant against things that steal your joy and sap your energy by forcing you to be someone you’re not.”
3. THE AGILE. “Without the freedom to explore new ideas and experiment with different approaches, work becomes monotonous and uninspiring.”
4. THE SOLVER. “Nothing frustrates, a solver more than a badly positioned problem.” (See also my
recent review on solving the right problem!)
5. THE ANTICIPATOR. “Anticipators like to figure things out. They need a puzzle to solve, a case to crack. To them, any information they get is a clue to help them figure out the next step. While the rest of us are living in black-and-white Kansas, the Anticipators are experiencing Technicolor, taking it all in and processing each color on the other side of the rainbow.”
6. THE PREPARED. “Dealing with bureaucracy and freeloaders at work can be incredibly frustrating with anyone, but particularly the Prepared.”
7. THE SELF-AWARE. An intake nurse at a really busy emergency room: “ I thought it was perfect for me because I’m really empathetic, and I don’t miss a thing. Turns out, it was a nightmare for me because I’m really empathetic and don’t miss a thing. It was just too overwhelming. I’d come home and have to sit in silence for like half an hour before I could deal with talking to people again.”
8. THE CURIOUS. “Nothing can get a curious person down like an uninterested pessimist.”
9. THE CONNECTED. “Connected people need people. That’s abundantly clear. So, when they’re in jobs that have them working alone, they don’t do their best.”
10. THE LIKEABLE. “… if their efforts go unnoticed or the Likeable person is left alone for too long, they will get demoralized and demotivated. Likeable people need recognition to be at their best.”
11. THE PRODUCTIVE. “I’m not sorry that I have high standards,” says project manager Michelle N. “I’m sorry my boss doesn’t.”
12. THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN. “We are very slow to fire anyone, so there are a couple of employees who are kind of just hanging on that probably should be let go.”
Is someone you care about (kids, grandkids, friends, coworkers) struggling to find a job they love? Is governor of your state in their future? Give them this book! I’ve already recommended and gifted this book to several friends.
TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for
Work How You Are Wired: 12 Data-Driven Steps to Finding a Job You Love, by William Vanderbloemen. Listen on
Libro (6 hours, 12 minutes). And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
BONUS! For background, read my review of
Be the Unicorn here. Order from
Amazon here. Plus, read my review of the
workbook here. Order the
workbook here.
Issue No. 658 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Oct. 3, 2025) features a new book coming Oct. 7—describing the four seasons of a CEO. The “...
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