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A Little Report
A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to the senior management team from Hollywood Video/Game Crazy. They’ve been fans of The Radical Leap for some time and are striving to make the principles of Extreme Leadership more and more a part of their already passionate culture.
On Friday, I received this email from John Sanders, a Hollywood Video/Game Crazy zone vice president (and the person who introduced The Radical Leap to COO, Tim Winner):
“I'm sure that anyone who tries to lead/inspire a large number of people ends up questioning their effectiveness on a regular basis. Then (hopefully at least every once in awhile) you hear from, or hear about someone, who really "gets it" and more importantly is "doing something about it". This young man happens to be a store director for Hollywood Video here in the Seattle area and after reading The Radical Leap, sent me his "reflections". I thought you'd get a kick out of it.”
Yup…I sure did. This document of “reflections” from store director, Eric Little, is actually, well, kind of a book report. (When was the last time you wrote a freakin’ book report? Voluntarily?)
Since Eric’s audience is other managers and employees in their video and game stores, he brings all of his observations about the book back into the realities of their work life. An exerpt:
“Sometimes it seems as if the world bombards us with negative, depressing, or fear-invoking stimuli. Studies show that most Americans perceive their surroundings as more dangerous than they actually are. (Not to mention that we spend our week surrounded by and working with thousands of DVD covers depicting murder, mayhem, torture, and scary-looking demons.) It can be challenging to maintain a positive attitude some days, but those are exactly the days when it is most important to remind ourselves why we love this life…
Sometimes all it takes is focusing and re-noticing some of the things that made us love this life in the first place. To take joy in that quiet smile of recognition a regular gives you when he spots you at the till, or the crooked grin of pride that pregnant lady blinds you with the day she brings in her new baby to show you for the first time.”
Listen, I’ve read lots of reviews of The Radical Leap before, (like the very first one back in May of '04 in FastCompany, for example), but this heartfelt, unsolicited essay by a video guy who just wants to make a difference for his company and his customers is what this whole writing and speaking enterprise is really all about.
I encourage you to download Eric's essay here.
Posted by steve at 07.09.2006 | Comments (1)
Comments: A Little Report
I really appreciated Eric's comments, especially the ones you quoted. He showed a lot of insight into our society today as well as focusing on what makes each day worthwhile. It was obvious he spoke from his heart. He got a lot out of your book because you were speaking about things he has seen and lived.
Posted by Suzanne Hagelin at July 11, 2006 11:05 AM