Become Unmistakable: Start The Journey From Commodity To Oddity Book Review

Are you somebody who is looking to take your leadership skills to the next level? Are you wanting your employees to be proud to call work their second home? Are you wanting to have a greater impact on the lives of those you work with? Not just in the office either, but in life in general? 

If so, then I have found the next book in which you need to read.

The book that I am currently reading during this whole social distancing time is called Become Unmistakable: Start The Journey From Commodity To Oddity by Michael D. Novakoski and John M. Parker. 

What really makes this book so interesting and unique is the unique and humane message behind it, which is strange given the stigma behind the industry. 

Michael D Novakoski is the CEO E&V Construction, a large construction company based out of Michigan. Now, normally when you talk about construction companies, you have this image in your mind of big, dirty, and gross men who constantly use foul language and are uneducated.

But Novakoski shows the other side of the construction industry – a side that very few ever get to see. 

The 2 Main Types of Leadership

According to Novakoski, there are two types of leaders in the world: there are the right-brained leaders, and then there are the left-brained leaders.

Right-Brained Leadership

Novakoski considers himself to be a right-brained leader. As he describes it, a right-brained leader is one who operates from the heart. Right-brained leaders tend to focus more on relationships and doing what is right not only for their employees but for their clients as well. As a result, their relationships are strong, their employees take more pride in their work, and clients are happier with the outcome. As you can probably imagine, this is a recipe for success!

In an industry that relies heavily on left-brained leadership, Novakoski chose to create a company culture that “values treating people right, starting with how we treat our employees. We believe having happy, engages, and empowered employees will naturally make for happy clients, repeat customers, and a better business overall.” 

In the construction industry, a lot of jobs are completed through bidding. Companies will research what it will cost to build a project, propose their price to the customer, and then bid to see who gets the job. Generally speaking, it is the companies who can propose the lowest bid that will get the job. But not in all cases.

As a result of happy employees and repeat customers, Novakoski and the rest of the leadership team at E&V Construction has noticed that they don’t need to low-ball their proposals to win bids. They have noticed that leaders who operate from the right brain (leaders who value their employees and customers more than money) will perform quality work that speaks for itself, which can lead to contracts without offering the lowest price.

Left-Brained Leadership

A lot of businesses, unfortunately, rely on left-brained leadership. A left-brained leader is somebody who focused on watching numbers and metrics, who is concerned at cutting costs wherever possible, and who seeks to propose the lowest price just to get work. 

As a result of being driven by money, left-brained leaders tend to create a working environment that is less than enjoyable. They do not take the time to get to know their employees or customers, they risk the safety of their employees just to save costs, and overall, the work and reputation of left-brained leaders suffer.

When your employees aren’t happy, when you put your profit before your customers, and when your quality of work suffers, so too will your business. No company wants to work with another company whose sole focus is on money, and no individual wants to work for a leader who will jeopardize their safety just to save a few dollars. But yet far too many leaders still operate with a left-brained mindset and wonder why their business never excels. 

Learn How To Be An Effective Leader

If there is one thing that you will learn from reading Become Unmistakable: Start The Journey From Commodity To Oddity, it’s how to be an effective leader. 

There is a reason why E&V Construction has a low employee turnover rate and why they have been able to build one of the most highly awarded companies without lowballing their bids. It’s because Novakoski and the rest of the leadership team at E&V Construction have created an environment that has truly put its customers and employees before money. In today’s day and age, that’s rare to find in any multimillion-dollar company. 

As a result of putting their employees and customers first, E&V has continued to grow as a company despite not always being the cheapest. When you have employees who take pride in their work, love the company they work for, and also do everything you can to ensure that your customer is happy, your business is bound to succeed. That’s just one of the many rewards of being a strong and effective right-brained leader.

Overall Review of Become Unmistakable

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Become Unmistakable: Start The Journey From Commodity To Oddity by Michael D. Novakoski and John M. Parker. I thought it was a well-written book that provided excellent insight as to what it takes to be an effective leader. 

Whether you are already in a leadership role or someone who is aspiring to be a leader in any field, I believe that there is a lot of value in reading this book. 

Maybe right-brained leadership isn’t for you. If not, that’s fine. But at least by reading this book, you will be provided with many amazing ideas that can help you to grow not only as a leader but as a person as well. 

Always remember to put people before money. When you focus on creating a positive work environment for both your employees and customers, good things will happen. Leading a successful company costs a fortune. Leading a company that has high turnover costs even more. But being a good person costs nothing.

When you do right by those who work for and with you, you create an enjoyable working environment. When you create an enjoyable working environment, you and your company will find tremendous amounts of success.

Michael Bonnell