[Book 34] Your Next Five Moves by Patrick Bet-David

Your Next Five Moves is a compilation of experiential (rather than research-based) business advice. Despite being marketed as “mastering strategy”, these insights are relevant for any business role. For example, you can improve the speed of reaching professional goals by “living your future truth”, which entails clearly envisioning where you want to be (e.g., in a larger role or less stressed) and beginning to act as if you’re already there. The idea is that displaying the necessary behavior effectively before receiving an enhanced title provides strong evidence that you’re qualified for it.

Patrick introduced to me the concept of an “intrapreneur” which is someone who thinks, works, and acts like an entrepreneur within an established company. Innovating and seeking to grow and improve the company is distinct from being a founder or having an equity stake.

A clever way to enhance your gratitude practice is to praise people behind their backs. Often, this will cascade into a favorable reputation held by many people. Giving a team member positive feedback is helpful, but they may see it only as a singular viewpoint. Praising them behind their back eventually provides this feedback in a more comprehensive and indirect way, which can boost their confidence and give them a reputation to maintain.

In addition to providing several good ideas and ways of thinking, this book introduced me to a few other books that you’ve seen on this blog.

You should read this book if you…

• want a variety of advice to improve how you act at work
• seek ideas on how to think ahead and plan accordingly
• want to learn how to be an intrapreneur

Additional Information

Year Published: 2020
Book Ranking (from 1-10): 9 – Excellent – Broad and very well articulated insights
Ease of Read (from 1-5): 1 – A breeze

Key Highlights

1. A phrase I use all the time is future truth. It means to live in the present as if your future truth has already become a reality
2. Intrapreneurs have the respect to say, “Look, I think like you, I work like you, I’m the same as you, but you put up the money. You ignited the vision, and you took all the risk.” Intrapreneurs work within the system but find ways to improve themselves while also improving the company
3. There’s no reason to blame yourself for an accident or a pandemic. You didn’t create the crisis. It’s your reaction to the crisis that will determine the life or death of your business
4. The Latin root of the word “decision” means “to cut off.” When you make a decision, you are cut off from taking some other course of action. Now, that may sound limiting, but it’s not; it’s liberating. Plus, the alternative is indecision and stagnation
5. Instead of being selfish and looking to see what I could take from other people, I learned to focus on what I could give them— and I improved my own worth in the process. That paradigm shift— that one decision— changed my life for the better. I stopped asking how other people could make my life better, and instead, I asked: How can I make everybody else’s life better just by the benefits that I offer them?
6. Insecure leaders surround themselves with “yes people.” Effective leaders surround themselves with people who challenge them. They also find and hire people who are much smarter than they are— especially in areas in which they are weak
7. One of the reasons you create a culture is that it elevates everyone. It also allows you to scale up faster. The less your business depends on you, the more valuable it is
8. The key word in the expression “tough love” is “love.” You have to love someone enough to put you both through the discomfort of such conversations
9. Smart compensation packages and incentive trips go only so far. When you touch people’s hearts, they will move mountains for you. And to touch their hearts, you have to take the time to understand them and know their deepest beliefs and desires
10. In relationships, forget about the Golden Rule. Replace “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” with “Do unto others the way they want to be treated
11. “The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere— everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from— it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target”
12. I’m not telling you to be crazy paranoid but be cautious paranoid. In the latter condition, you’re alert for what can go wrong but you’re not obsessive about it. You’re conscious of potential dangers and pitfalls, and you keep your antenna up for signs that things are going south
13. “You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once.” Even a hustler like Slim recognized that the key to a long career is treating people in such a way that they want to keep doing business with you. In any game, the goal is not to make a score; it’s to build a partnership in which both parties make scores in perpetuity
14. Leverage is such an important element of power that we need to dig deeper to understand it better. The person who really has the leverage is the person who needs the deal the least. Options give you power. If you can walk away from a deal, you’re in the best position to negotiate the best terms
15. I realized that I couldn’t change people; they had to possess the inner drive to fix their own mistakes. Once I realized that, I began to manage people more effectively. I stopped trying to solve other people’s problems. Instead, I realized that what they wanted is someone to listen to them, someone to ask them questions, someone to nudge them in the right direction. People want to be heard. Taking the time to understand them is critical for effective leadership. After that, if they possess an inner drive to excel, they’ll self-correct. They’ll do their part in achieving their best