Unlock Your Team's Potential: Mastering the 12 Habits of Valuable Employees

In today’s competitive work environment, technical skills alone won’t get you noticed—or promoted. What separates valuable employees from the average isn’t their résumé—it’s how they show up, how they think, how they act, and how they lead from wherever they are. That’s the central message of 12 Habits Of Valuable Employees: Your Roadmap to an Amazing Career by Verne Harnish and Kevin Daum.

More than just a guide for professional growth, this book offers a framework that helps leaders at all levels understand, cultivate, and reinforce the behaviors that contribute to exceptional team performance. Whether you're a frontline employee or a CEO, these 12 habits serve as both a mirror and a map.

In business today, the success of any organization hinges on the strength and capabilities of its people. As leaders, we constantly seek ways to empower our teams, cultivate high-performing individuals, and ultimately, drive our collective vision forward. While talent acquisition is crucial, the true magic lies in nurturing the potential within our existing workforce. This is where Verne Harnish and Kevin Daum's insightful book offers a powerful and practical framework. While ostensibly targeted at individual career growth, this book is a goldmine of wisdom for leaders seeking to build exceptional teams and foster a culture of leadership at all levels.

About the Authors

Verne Harnish is a renowned business strategist and founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). He is best known for his work with high-growth companies and his bestselling book Scaling Up. Harnish brings decades of experience working with high-growth companies and a deep understanding of the key drivers of business success.

Kevin Daum is an award-winning entrepreneur, author of several bestselling books including ROAR! Get Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle, and a columnist for Inc.com. He has founded or co-founded several successful businesses and is a recognized expert in leadership, communication, and personal development.

Together, Harnish and Daum bring a wealth of entrepreneurial and leadership experience to 12 Habits Of Valuable Employees, offering a balanced perspective on what it takes for individuals to thrive and contribute meaningfully within an organization.

Summary and Core Message of 12 Habits of Valuable Employees

At its heart, the book is about personal accountability and intentional contribution. The book breaks down the essence of a high-value employee into 12 core behaviors—simple, yet powerful habits that anyone can adopt. These habits are grouped into three categories:

1. Personal Excellence

These habits address the inner workings of a strong individual contributor.

• Be Grateful – Gratitude shifts mindset and builds resilience. Employees who appreciate their work and colleagues contribute more positively to the culture.

• Be Trustworthy – Trust is the cornerstone of influence and credibility. This habit underlines the importance of keeping promises and behaving with integrity.

• Be Purposeful – Knowing why you work fuels how you work. Purpose-driven employees are more engaged and motivated.

• Be Authentic – Transparency and sincerity build connection. Being real—especially in a leadership context—encourages others to be open and honest, too.

2. Interpersonal Influence

These habits help team members contribute to a thriving group dynamic.

• Be Clear – Communication is everything. Clear articulation of goals, expectations, and ideas improves team efficiency.

• Be Adaptable – Flexibility allows teams to navigate change effectively. This trait is especially important for leaders steering teams through uncertainty.

• Be Present – Attention is a limited resource. Being fully engaged fosters better collaboration, trust, and innovation.

• Be Curious – Lifelong learning doesn’t happen by accident. Curious employees question assumptions, seek feedback, and drive continuous improvement.

3. Organizational Impact

The final group of habits ties the individual’s contribution back to the organization’s bigger picture.

• Be Accountable – Ownership sets the tone for a culture of responsibility. Leaders who model accountability create teams that don’t pass the buck.

• Be Resilient – The ability to bounce back from setbacks with energy and perspective is a hallmark of both strong individuals and strong teams.

• Be Constructive – Valuable employees don’t just spot problems—they offer solutions. This habit emphasizes positive contribution and productive conflict.

• Be Engaged – The engaged employee sees beyond the task to the mission. Their enthusiasm is infectious and helps drive team morale and loyalty.

The authors also explore complementary habits that directly support team culture and leadership potential. These include:

• Think Like an Owner – Employees who act in the company’s long-term interest take initiative and make value-based decisions.

• Master the Fundamentals – Leaders should focus on helping their team develop excellence in core responsibilities through feedback, training, and accountability.

• Take Initiative and Seek Opportunities – Valuable employees find ways to contribute beyond their job descriptions. Leaders should encourage and reward this behavior.

• Manage Time and Priorities Effectively – Time mastery reflects professionalism and clarity. Leaders can teach their teams to align their priorities with team and company goals.

Together, these habits form a comprehensive blueprint for becoming an indispensable team member—and for building teams that lead themselves.

Key Leadership Lessons

While the book is positioned as a roadmap for employees, it’s also a leadership manual in disguise. Here are three major takeaways for leaders:

1. Great Leadership Begins with Modeling: If you want a team that shows gratitude, seeks feedback, or takes ownership—you must model it yourself. These 12 habits aren’t just aspirational; they’re actionable traits that can be demonstrated daily by leaders, creating a ripple effect across the organization.

2. Hiring and Developing for Habitual Behavior: Rather than hiring solely for skillsets, this book challenges leaders to evaluate candidates based on habits and behaviors. Skills can be taught. Mindsets take longer to change. Use these 12 habits as a framework during performance reviews, mentoring conversations, and even recruitment.

3. Culture is Built on Consistent Micro-Actions: Culture isn’t created in workshops or strategy decks—it’s embedded in the daily behaviors of employees and reinforced by what leaders reward or tolerate. By institutionalizing these habits, leaders can shape a resilient, high-performing workplace culture over time.

These principles also empower leaders to:

• Identify and nurture emerging leaders based on how consistently they demonstrate the habits.

• Set crystal-clear expectations tied to behaviors, not just outputs.

• Develop tailored training programs that support specific habits, such as better communication or resilience.

• Promote trust, collaboration, and engagement using the book’s behavioral framework as a shared standard.

Why This Book Matters Now

In an era of burnout, disengagement, and quiet quitting, 12 Habits Of Valuable Employees is a timely wake-up call. It reminds us that creating value is a choice, not a title. Leaders can’t afford to overlook the importance of behavior in building teams that perform with purpose, integrity, and grit.

The habits are timeless, but their urgency is very current. With teams spread across locations, leaders are often managing by influence more than proximity. These 12 habits create a universal language that helps teams self-manage and thrive.

Moreover, the book’s strength lies in its accessibility. These are not high-concept theories. They’re habits you can adopt immediately, whether you’re running a Fortune 500 company or just starting out in your career.

Final Thoughts

12 Habits Of Valuable Employees isn’t just a career guide—it’s a leadership development tool disguised as self-improvement. It challenges each of us to move from transactional to transformational.

Whether you’re leading teams or mentoring future leaders, this book offers a blueprint for building a culture where every employee knows they matter—and more importantly, behaves like they do.

Read it. Share it. Most importantly, live it.

Supporting Quotes

"Excellence is not an act, but a habit." – Aristotle, Philosopher

"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions." – Harold Geneen, Former CEO of ITT

"People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things." – Edmund Hillary, Explorer & Mountaineer