Twelve and a Half: A Taste of the Ingredients

Modern society’s definition of a “smart business decision” is disproportionately predicated on analytics. Business leaders tend to find safety in the “black-and-white.” They find safety in the academics, math, hard data, and what looks good on spreadsheets…

Unfortunately, the bias toward short-term metrics can also make emotional intelligence a “nice to have” rather than a requirement. It creates a scenario in which a leader looks the other way when one employee makes everyone else in the office miserable, just because that employee happens to be bringing in the most revenue. It makes people think negative behavior and poor EQ (emotional quotient) are just side effects of being “good at business.” 

I wrote Twelve and a Half to help change that. 

The twelve and a half ingredients I describe in this book are some of the traits that have led to my success and happiness over the years, in addition to others that I’ve observed and admired: gratitude, self-awareness, accountability, optimism, empathy, kindness, tenacity, curiosity, patience, conviction, humility, ambition, and kind candor. The black-and-white is still wildly important, but in my opinion, it’s a distant second to mastering soft skills. 

In part two of the book, you’ll see me combine these twelve ingredients into complete “meals” and show you how they can be used together when you face different challenges in business. Since we’re kicking off the new year, I created the deck below with the help of my team to give you just a little taste of what to expect from my sixth and best book yet. 

You’re about to have the best year of your life! I hope this deck helps