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Book Synopsis:
In A Journey into the Heroic Environment, you
will learn how to change the culture of your entire work
environment. Whether you're a front-line worker or a boardroom
executive, the key lies in utilizing Shared Values —
critical concepts, backed by academic research, that constitute
the 'missing link' in the elusive effort to connect job
satisfaction with performance. Follow along with John
Spencer and Stan 'Kip' Kiplinger, two characters on opposite
ends of the same journey through professional life. As
one quests for satisfaction and meaning, the other offers
advice gleaned through a lifetime in the professional
world, and in the process, draws an explicit diagram for
realizing and instituting Shared Values. The end result
is the creation of fertile ground for new ideas from all
areas of the organization, ultimately leading to a workplace
where people act the way they really want to act - heroically.
The vehicle of the story is simple and the morale is one
of the oldest in the world. But in a method seldom seen
in the world of business, corporate mentor Rob
Lebow uses a simple take on the Golden Rule
and applies it to the workplace. This is the foundation
of A Journey into the Heroic Environment, a vision
and an effort to create an enormous measure of transparency,
communication and common focus across corporate cultures.
The main idea is that job satisfaction is entirely dependent
on a work environment which is created by individuals
within an organization who agree to agree on what certain
values mean to them personally - their Shared Values.
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Imagine what would happen in a work environment if
people were given the freedom to act the way they really
wanted to act — with courage, creativity, and
independence from fear of criticism, or worse. Productivity,
quality, job satisfaction, and company morale would
all reach levels beyond expectation.
Is it possible for an individual to create such a work
environment? By taking A Journey into the
Heroic Environment, anyone from the company
president down to a shop-floor employee can learn the
principles and practices for creating just such a setting.
A Journey into the Heroic Environment
chronicles the extraordinary trip taken by a young man
caught in the rut of middle management. What began as
just a train ride home from a job interview turned into
an incredible learning experience when he shares a compartment
with a mysterious older man who shows him the secret to
job satisfaction. This stranger describes the concept
of Shared Values and the Eight Principles of the Heroic
Environment®.
He shows this young man how universal respect, trust,
and a genuine desire to attain a goal can unify an organization
and make any job the perfect one.
In this fully revised and updated edition of the book
that introduced Shared Values to the world of business,
author Rob Lebow expands this business novelette to encompass
many more aspects of business life. New topics include
working through disputes and differences, balancing the
four corporate personality types, and the basic law of
business physics. At the end of this new edition, readers
can take a quiz to help them determine if they work in
a Heroic Environment®.
The lessons both the young man and the readers learn along
the journey are designed to serve as a road map for creating
a successful organization. By following the principles
presented in this book, readers can effectively turn their
current job into the job of their dreams.
Reviews (from amazon.com)
"It strikes me that the principles of the
Heroic Environment and Heroic behavior are the kind
of logical common sense fundamentals of life that too
often get lost in big business."
Roger D. Missimer
Senior Vice President
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.
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"The Concept of the Heroic Environment is
the 'Open Marriage' of business philosophy...it borders
on organization without ego. Very simply, these eight
principles say...do what is right; treat others as you
would expect to be treated...with trust and dignity.
It really deals with the essence of down-to-earth values."
Jim Stevens
Chief Operating Officer
Coca-Cola Enterprises
Atlanta, Georgia
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In an easy one-hour read, you can learn how
to humanize your whole organization and turn everyone
into a winner. I loved this powerful book. Buy it!
Harvey Mackay
Author, Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten
Alive
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"I love the book. Your product line is rich.
The applications far exceed my wildest previous imagination.
This is a concept we are going to run with."
Paul Horgen
President & CEO
Think Federal Credit Union (formerly-IBM MID
AMERICA Credit Union)
Employees Federal Credit Union
The most profitable Credit Union in the United
States
Rochester, Minnesota
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If you want your company to work and people
to care about each other and the good of the whole organization,
read this wonderfully appealing book. Heroism in the
workplace isn't fiction. It can come alive and make
a real difference in our lives.
Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D.
Co-Author, The One Minute Manager
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Rarely is so much wisdom contained in such
a compact, accessible package. People at all levels
of an organization can benefit from the lessons of this
book.
Mary Boone
Author, Leadership and the Computer
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Don't miss this book! You'll come away with
some extraordinary insights into how great companies
make the Shared Values Process an essential principle
of their strategy.
John Sculley
Principal
Sculley Brothers and former CEO, Apple Computer
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As I reflect upon where the organization is
today in comparison to where it was before we started
our journey together, there's not a moment doubt in
my mind that we chose the right path when we chose the
Shared Values Process. The transformation has been remarkable,
and I know the journey has just begun. For all you have
done, and for all you will continue to do, I am eternally
grateful."
And, now after 8 years!
Shared Values was introduced to our company
in 1996. Today, in 2004, it continues to be a vital
part of our corporate culture. It is not a fad. It is
not the flavor of the month. Shared Values has staying
power and the power to change an organization for the
better, because it draws upon the basic truths of who
we are as human beings and the kind of environment within
which we desire to work. This is a simple book, filled
with powerful truths.
James Gabbert
CEO
Gabberts Furniture
A nationally recognized and award winning furniture
retailer for quality of service and excellence Minneapolis,
Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas
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