Acclaimed CEO, TED Speaker, and Entrepreneurship Professor James Rhee shares the inspirational true story of finding success through kindness (plus a little math). Learn the deceptively simple and positive way to embrace your agency, lead change, and fly free—in the business of life and the life of business.
In kindergarten, James Rhee received a toy red helicopter in gratitude for a simple act of generosity—sharing his lunch. Decades later, the lesson from that small gift led him to develop a human-centered framework for business and personal achievement that helped him overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles and find unprecedented success.
Rhee was a high school teacher turned private equity investor when he unexpectedly took the helm of Ashley Stewart, an iconic company predominantly employing and serving Black women. Inspired by the values his dying Korean immigrant parents instilled in him, he knew that a radically different—yet familiar—approach was required to lead this twice-bankrupt company from certain liquidation to true transcendence. The entire world bet against him and Ashley, but Rhee trusted his instincts to identify, measure, and leverage the intangible goodwill at the company’s core, a decision which ultimately multiplied its fortunes several times over.
By combining the clarity and imagination we had as children with fundamental business metrics, anyone can apply this refreshingly intuitive approach to lead change at work and at home. While eloquently sharing a story of personal and professional success, red helicopter presents a comforting yet bold solution to the dissatisfaction and worry we all feel in a chaotic and sometimes terrifying world. The insights and knowledge that Rhee imparts have been accumulated over decades of investing and leading at the highest levels of business. Drawing on this experience, he encourages us to trust the wisdom deep inside each of us so we can learn how to:
- Create and measure “goodwill,” the ultimate collective good
- Discover agency and the truth about kindness it entails
- Identify the invisible obstacles standing in your way
- Lead transformational change through small, scalable acts
- Construct an accurate “balance sheet” of our assets and liabilities
- Reorient our lives, organizations, and the world to reflect the best in us
A poignant and uplifting celebration of humanity, red helicopter—a parable for our times is a beautiful literary tale of struggle and triumph, as well as a clear, instructional path to create a more sustainable balance between life, money, and joy for both ourselves and others.
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