William Vanderbloemen
Appearances
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Now, I'm saying that both generally and very intentionally when I say look people in the eye. If you're if you're younger right now, if you're Gen Z and you're listening to this, the number one complaint recruiters at companies have with the interviews that Gen Z is giving them is that Gen Z doesn't look them in the eye. Isn't that interesting? They just don't look up. We've got seven kids.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And so our kids that don't use the phone but FaceTime us all the time, they'll FaceTime us. And then all I see is their nostrils because they're holding the phone and walking around. They're not actually looking at us. There's something lost in eye contact. So simply looking at people is first step toward authenticity. But here's the real meat of the life hack. We have two eyes. One is dominant.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
One is peripheral. In other words, you see the world through one eye. The other eye just gives you perspective, depth perception, that sort of thing. 90% of all humans on the planet are right eye dominant. It's how scopes are built on rifles. It's how lots of things are built around the fact that most of us are right eye dominant.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
So what that means is when you sit down with somebody to interface with them,
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
if you will look not at the not at the center of their nose you can't look there you can't look in both eyes at the same time if you will look people in the eye the right eye directly you've got a 90 chance of being right and what it produces is this have you ever sat in a room with somebody and talked to them and you go they made me feel like i was the only person in the room
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
chances are they were looking you dead in the eye. And I think that will convey a level of authenticity that makes people go, this person's different. They authentically care about me. They're authentically interested in me. And that one little life hack, I mean, just that one twitch, just look right at their right eye.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
It could make all the difference in getting ahead at whatever it is you're trying to get ahead at.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Yeah, that unicorns get stuff done the very first chance they get. It's kind of like responding the very first chance you get. The top performers, the people who stand out in any crowd are the ones who actually go to bed saying, I got something done. And that can sound pretty overwhelming. But I think that... You know, maybe the best advice I've heard is some old management advice.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And if you've got time for a quick story, years and years ago, I had a really successful business guy mentoring me and very generous.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
successful business guy mentoring me and he called me and said he owned a bank and he called me and said uh come to my office i'll give you a christmas present i'm like cool and this is kind of embarrassing but the whole way there i'm like i wonder what he got me i bet it's pretty cool oh man i wonder if it's this i wonder if that very selfish thoughts sorry but that's that's where i was and i got there and he handed me a little like oh
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Two by three inch day timer, really small with the bank's logo on it. Like he gives this to kids when they open a checking account. And he said, no, no, no, no. The calendar is not the gift. Here's the gift. I want you for the next year. You can do it the night before or the morning you wake up. I want you to write six objectives down.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
They're going to help you move forward in wherever you're trying to move forward.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
that's just six things you want to get done this day no more no less i said why he said well it's the oldest management consulting ever given it was uh one of the first management consultants ever went to jp morgan the guy before you know chase and said if you'll do this with your team you'll get more productive and it and they skyrocketed and i was like wow and he said yeah and he said if you'll do it consistently you'll be amazed how much you get done and so what do you mean he and so he opened the credenza
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
behind his desk and there were 30 years of those little day timers. He said, ask me what I got done on any day in the last 30 years.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
i picked a date and he pulled it out and he showed me do this this this this and this and i just was like wow okay and and what really brought this home for me is this you can feel overwhelmed feeling i've got to get everything done i've got to get everything right now right now but if you'll do small you know six tasks each day that might be as a parent how am i going to get six things done for my kids as a student what am i going to do build my college resume as a how do i get the promotion at work six objectives every day and catalog them
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
I've graduated from the tiny little bank issued day timer to Apple Notes and I just date them so I can see everything. It's amazing what happens. And it reminds me of there's a quote that's gone around many times. But a good friend of mine said one time, you know, William, people overestimate what they can get done in a year, but they always underestimate what they can get done in a decade.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Here's just one. The habit is called the curious. The top performers are always more interested in others than they are in themselves. Here's the quick life hack. If you want to be interesting to people, then start being interested in those people.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And that's that sort of small deposits every day of here are six things I'm going to get done. And our research showed most people love talking about getting something done. Very few people actually take action. So one quick way to not get overwhelmed by I got to get more done is to just say, could you go to Apple Notes and write down six things you want to get done?
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Apple Notes even has a little checkbox function, which I love. And you can just check the box when you get it done and look back and say, I got everything done today that I planned to get done. That creates momentum. A flywheel starts to turn. And before you know it, you stand out.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
if you're consistently not hitting them maybe you're making them too big you know my objective for today is it to achieve world peace well that box isn't going to get checked yeah that's going to be tough good luck so are you making these something that can actually get done and if it make them really small make them so you could get it done by 10 a.m and and build your momentum that way momentum is the best friend of anyone trying to get ahead
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate being on your podcast. It's amazing how many hours and interviews you've done, and you're really good at your job. I appreciate you having me.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate you having me on.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Mike, what a good question. You said everybody's got advice and opinion. I don't know that you want to hear my advice or opinion. However... I do have data. And we have studied, we're an executive search firm, so we help people, we help companies find their top talent.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And we interviewed the very best, we've interviewed lots and lots and lots of people, but we found the very best, the top 1% of everybody we've interviewed, and that's for all kinds of jobs. And that's 30,000 people in that 1%. And we just asked the question, do these people have anything in common? And the answer was yes.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And so we did like empirical research to say, well, then what do they have in common? And the answer was exactly not what I thought it would be.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
But it did give us a roadmap for saying, oh, here's how people can get ahead, how they can stand out in a really crowded world, how they can be that exception to the rule in whatever they do, whether they're a student or a custodian or a leader, whatever they're spending their day doing.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
and what is that and what is that yeah so yeah we found so i thought mike that you know what are the best of the best have in common i figured it would be they're all over six feet tall and have fabulous hair and teeth and you know super high iqs and uh went to all the right schools it was none of that it was 12 habits that they had in common and all of those habits are really fundamentally
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
how these people are treating other humans I mean this was a selfish research project Mike we we started this saying could we find a way to identify top talent faster so we get our job done faster and better and what we stumbled upon was these 12 habits can all be learned And we were looking for a way to identify talent.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
What we discovered was a roadmap for becoming that talent or becoming that standout or get ahead person. Anybody who wants to get ahead, if you study these 12 habits and apply them to your life, you will get ahead.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And what I mean by that is you send a message to somebody and you never hear back from them. This happens in people fill out forms, I'd like to buy your product, please have someone contact me. Well, it's staggering how uncommon it is for companies to actually get back to somebody that fills out that form. And when they do, they usually wait a day or two.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
But studies have shown that if you get back to people within 60 seconds of that form coming in, And you do it not in a way a chatbot would or an AI program. If you do it in a really intentional human way, really quickly, you're almost certain to talk to that person again and maybe make whatever sale it is you're trying to make.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
So unicorns get back to people really quickly and with intention, not like a chatbot. The rest of us just don't. And if you want to get ahead and stand out in the crowd in a way that is really remarkable, just get back to people quickly and with intention. Like mention something about their world or what they're doing, not just a, how can I help you today?
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Um, you know, I think people are always like, like I go to a party and I'm like, I don't know if anyone's going to remember me. I'm not very...
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
memorable or interesting like how do i stand out in a way that whether it's a relationship with a family member or a co-worker or trying to get the next job how do i stand out in a room that's really crowded well here's here's one thing and i'll say it this simply the the habit is called the curious okay the the top performers are always more interested in others than they are in themselves they're curious they're asking questions so here's here's the quick life hack okay
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
if you want to be interesting to people, then start being interested in those people. So I used to work at a church where the people that went there were, almost all of them were literally the best in the world at what they did during the week. And I would try and ask them about themselves. And invariably the best leaders I met really never wanted to talk about themselves.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And they deflected the conversation back to me which made me like them even more. So there's a life hack here for people trying to get ahead. If you'll just be curious about the people you're interacting with, if you'll be interested in them, you'll be interesting to them.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Well, and it's not brown nosing the people. It's not like the super old black and white show, Leave it to Beaver. You had Eddie Haskell telling Beaver's mom, oh, what a nice dress you have on, Mrs. Cleaver. It's not that. It's just how many kids do you have? Oh, what do you like to do? Oh, whatever.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
what do you really love about your job it's it's being interested in them and people like to talk about themselves so you've just opened the door to their favorite subject in a way that's not you know false compliments or that sort of thing it will open the door to further conversation and you will stand out in the crowd
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
I think all of us could work on self-awareness, and it's a pretty major blind spot. Self-aware was one of those 12 habits. And what's interesting is the unicorns are incredibly interested in learning more about what they're good at and what they're not.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
um how the world perceives them and you know they're very good at this so when we surveyed all 30 000 of the unicorns we asked them to force rank what are you best at what are you worst at of these 12 right the list the the rankings were very different because everybody's wired differently like some had this at the top there wasn't a clear winner for most popular the only clear winner was last place
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
And that was self-awareness. So the unicorns, the 1%, the people who are best at self-awareness said that it was their worst of the 12. Like, I really gotta work on this. Now, if you flip the script, we also surveyed 250,000 people just randomly, like normal people like you and me. 91% of all those 250,000 said they were above average at self-awareness.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Like, I'm not a statistician, but I'm pretty sure there's not a group where 91% is above average. 50% is above, 50% is above. Like, we all think we're good. It's a major human blind spot. And people say, well, I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean? Let me ask you this. Mike, do you remember back in your radio days the first time you heard your voice recorded? Oh, of course.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Yeah. And what was that like?
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
No, I hate it. I was like, who is this person? I don't want to put me back on. I don't want to listen to this. This is all, it's cringy, right?
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
that's the perfect example of how we see ourselves one way but the world perceives us another and the unicorns just get really determined at figuring out how is it people are seeing me what am i good at where do i need to get better while most of the rest of us just float along thinking i'm pretty good at all this the problem though is if you lack self-awareness you lack the ability to know you need to fix your self-awareness it's a bit of a chicken and an egg right
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
Yeah. I think though, Mike, we're living in maybe the best season ever for people who want to develop self-awareness. There are literally hundreds of personality profiles you can take to discover what your strengths are or what gives you energy or where you're good with other people. Like the Enneagram is super helpful. The disc inventory.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
We actually built one around these 12 habits and tested it against the 250,000 and the 30,000. Like, where am I in these 12 habits against the general population and against the unicorns? And that gives me a map for knowing how I'm perceived and how I'm going to get better. So I think there's, it's by the way, sorry, shameless plug. If you go to vanderindex.com, you'll see that profile.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
But there's so much that people can just take a first step.
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
So one of the 12 habits is the unicorns, the very best of the best, are...
Something You Should Know
Stunningly Simple Secrets for Success & What Really Goes On at the CIA
incredibly authentic and they're perceived as incredibly authentic you know mike in a world where we are uh dealing with more and more automated ai driven uh phone calls from that are robo calls robo text robo anything that's truly humanly authentic is a higher value maybe than it's ever before so so how do i develop authenticity i'm going to give you one life hack Look people in the eye.