Overall really good, the three traits are humility, hunger, and people smarts. It illustrates through story which is a little cheesy but overall feels pretty realistic and helps you see it in a realish situation. Then there’s a bunch of practical tips about how to implement this in the back of the book.

The one downside. He thinks part of being hungry is a willingness to work extra hours frequently…not occasionally…frequently! This is how it’s scored in the assessment at the back of the book in case there was any question about exactly how strongly he’s saying this. Dude, he could not be more wrong about that. Working extra hours frequently is unhealthy for the individual as well as irresponsible, myopic, and just plain dumb in most cases. Why do I say that? There has actually been research that most people who are “workaholics” are NOT actually working while at work for vast portions of the time. Another study of Japan, the highest working-hours country on the planet, showed the same thing. Working extra hours = less productivity. Yeah it sounds counter intuitive but the science shows it. So not only are you tanking your personal life and everything that really matters in life (yeah family and personal goals and passion should matter more than your work even if you love your work! No duh!), but you’re also less productive at work. Essentially you’re wasting both parts of your life. Don’t do it! And don’t work at a place that expects you to work more than 40hrs regularly! Or a place that says we aren’t going to be that way but just for this one season we’ve been doing it for a few months…and yes well there have been other seasons…but this time is going to be different…RUN. I interviewed for a company like that recently and I’m so glad I dug in and asked targeted questions to determine the truth.

I used to overwork. One day I found myself standing in line next to a guy who was known at my company for being the go-to guy for whenever a project was behind, throw him on there and he will come through. I asked him what his secret was. He told me, no lie, his secret was that he almost never worked more than 40hrs. That was it. Literally. Changed my life. I know it sounds country intuitive but just try it. You’ll be surprised.