Reviews

Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success by Gary Vaynerchuk

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brandleberry's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

2.0

I read this book as part of a challenge I did; I think it's safe to say I would not have picked it up otherwise. This book bills itself as using Emotional Intelligence to take on and improve success from a business perspective. It's split into three parts, the first of which breaks up each of the 12 ingredients, with a "summary" about why it's important. The next part, which is almost half of the book, it's just a list of scenarios and how those 12 things can be applied; it's pretty much just used as a list of buzzwords. The last part is somewhat helpful, with ideas on how to work on these twelve skills.
Maybe it's because I'm not, nor have any desire to be, a business leader of any kind, but I did not get much from this book. It could also be because I've had emotional intelligence training where I actually learned where *I* could improve, instead of reading a book that is a general catch-all. In the end, this book honestly seemed like a cash grab to me. While the content isn't necessarily bad, I felt like it started off as an idea for a blog post, then was bloated up to a full length so it could be sold. And don't even get me started on the amount of times NFTs are mentioned....

quicksilvermoon's review against another edition

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3.0

A few moons ago, my sister-from-another-mister Tarin gave me a much-needed reality check about a couple of ventures we were working on. My Humba from another Amma used this opportunity to make a profit and handed me this book. I really wish I had read this back in 2016, where I was stuck in a toxic environment being gaslighted into believing that the soft skills Gary Vee promotes in his formula were a handicap. The validation would have helped my self esteem.
Did I learn a lot of new things from this book? Not really, although he frames things I already know in a helpful work context. His writing is kind of brassy and self congratulatory in the way some lesser TED Talks are, but overall, it was a good refresher. Who would I recommend this to? Fresh interns, management newbies, and a few crusty old Boomers who need to learn that working smart > working hard

staasiaa's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

4.0

itisnotrick's review against another edition

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3.0

Great tips on how to succeed in business as a more emotionally mature adult, undermined by the author occasionally leaning into the unhealthy "sigma grind" mindset, along with harping on how certain blockchain tech will "revolutionize" art, but not explaining how. I suppose this encourages curiosity, one of the emotional ingredients, but c'mon, Gary, show your work.

fatherroderick's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed Gary's optimistic and positive approach in the way he conducts his business. He stresses the importance of a number of values that other business books rarely touch upon, like humility, gratitude and patience. I liked the various scenarios in the second part of the book where Gary applies his principles to specific situations.