Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits That Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest
William Vanderbloemen
HarperCollins Leadership/An Imprint of HarperCollins (November 2023)

How determined are you to to work hard AND smart? Otherwise….

What are the defining characteristics of a unicorn? That is, a “mythically” valuable, successful, irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind leader? Based on more than thirty thousand face-to-face interviews that he conducted, William Vanderbloemen identifies a dozen traits and habits that are teachable. He devotes a separate chapter to each. Here they are:

o Fast (Pages 1-17)
o Authentic (19-37)
o Agile (39-51)
o Problem Solver (53-67)
o Anticipator (69-83)
o Prepared (83-94)
o Self-Aware (95-114)
o Curious (115-130)
o Connected (131-151)
o Likable (153-171)
o Productive (173-186)
o Purpose Driven (187-201)

Three points of clarification. First, these are desirable traits and habits but –obviously — no human being possesses all of them at maximum strength. Next, Vanderbloemen wrote this book in order to help those who read it to focus on accelerating their personal growth and professional development. How? Check out the case studies, “reports from the Unicorns,” and a set of “Takeaways” at the end of each chapter. Improvement is a process, not a destination, and should be never-ending.

In this context, I am again reminded of the research conducted by Anders Ericcson and his associates at Florida State University. Their explorations reveal that the key to peak performance is what he characterizes as “deep practice.” That is, redundant practice under expert and strict discipline, being highly focused on a series of fundamentals (“chunking bite-sized pieces’) of an extended improvement process. During thousands of hours, the aspirant begins to “feel it”: becomes at one with, for example, playing a violin, moving chess pieces, or hitting a golf ball. Peak performers in basketball such as Michael Jordan and Stephon Curry describe being in a “zone” when making every shot. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had rounds of golf when they felt like they could make every putt.  The best in any field spend far more time on on improving execution than they do on performing. Their objective is to reach and then remain in (as long as posible) what many of them characterize as a “zone,” being in a “flow.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced “muh-hay-lee chick-sent-mee-high-ee”) defines flow as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer joy of doing it.” He has identified eight characteristics of flow:

1. Complete concentration on the task;
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
5. Effortlessness and ease;
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills;
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination; and
8. There is a feeling of almost total control over the task.

Vanderbloemen provides an abundance of valuable information, insights, andf counsel that can serve as both a blueprint and an operations manual for self-improvement. Supervisors (especially C-level executives) would also be well-advised to read (and then re-read) Be the Unicorn. It can help them to become much better-prepared to accelerate the personal growth and professional development of direct reports entrusted to their care.

William Vanderbloemen’s thoughts about leadership again remind me of this passage in Lao-tse’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

Here are two suggestions to keep in mind while reading Be the Unicorn: Highlight key passages, and, record your comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines), page references, and lessons you have learned as well as your responses to the questions posed within the narrative. These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent reviews of key material later.