Shift The Narrative — Story of An Unsung Hero

I recently completed my book?SIMPLE?written by?Barry L. Cross?on corporate innovation, highlighting the importance of killing complexity for a lean and agile organization. There are several fascinating true stories in the book. He posted the last story on the last page of the book about?Russell Redenbaugh, the author of the book “Shift the Narrative”. I want to share Russell’s story today.

Russell was born on 14 July 1945 in?Salt Lake, Utah. After completing his high school diploma, he studied Banking, Finance, Economics and graduated first in his class from the?University of Utah. From there, he applied to various MBA programs but was denied by the likes of Harvard and Stanford. He did accept the rejection and decided to apply to at third best university —?Wharton School. He flew to Philadelphia and meet in person with the administration and was accepted. Two years later, he graduated sixth in the class two years.

After graduation, he applied to many places for jobs and had forty-nine job interviews, but did not get a single offer. Cooke & Bieler, a small investment consulting company in Philadelphia, eventually hired him as an analyst. By the early 1970s, he was a partner at the firm and by 1980, he was its?Chief Investment Officer. He served the company for more than 3 decades (1969–2000) and In between, he served as?Commissioner with U.S. Commission on Civil Rights?(1990–2006). He was also the CEO and Chairman of a software company in Silicon Valley— Action Technologies. He also started his own management and investment advisory firm — Karios Capital Partners.

At the age of 50, his personal trainer introduced him to Brazilian jiu-jitsu (martial art). He got interested in jiu-jitsu and started his training with many of the masters of the sports. Eventually, he decided to compete in the?World jiu-jitsu championship?in Brazil and won three world championships in 2003, 2004, and 2005 in his weight category, and silver medal in 2004 and 2005 in the unlimited weight category. He earned a red stripe designation in 2015, which is above the black belt. Russell is currently running his own philanthropy -The Russell G. Redenbaugh Foundation.

It is such an inspiring story. One important part of Russell’s life, however, I missed. During his teenage years, he got inspired by the message of President Kennedy’s declaration that “We will put a man on the moon and bring him back alive in a decade”. He was passionate about building model rockets and decided to build a solid-state rocket during summer break. Sadly, the fuel was kindled and the rocket exploded, taking a few fingers away. At the age of 17, he lost his first eye and ultimately both eyes. Blind for life, he was declared.

Yeah, without his eyesight, he accomplished all in life, but in competition with sighted opponents. When doctors declared that he will be blind for life. He made a declaration, what will he not be? He decided that he would not be dependent on anyone and would not accept this as his fate. He would take action and pursue his dreams without any hesitation. At the time of admission, the dean of The Wharton School told him, “You’re admitted, and if you can’t make it here, you will have to leave.” At every stage, nothing prevents him from fulfilling his dream and making a new statement.

I would like to end this section by quoting these words “You know Russell, whenever I think I’m up against something too hard in life, I think of you.”

Russell shared the life lessons that helped him cope with all obstacles in his life. He shared his key learning in the book —?Shift the Narrative. Some of the important lessons from his book are:

1. After the accident, he set his own SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, results-oriented, timely) goals. You should remain focused on your?SMART goals?and should not let your narrative hold them back. Create a narrative that takes you where you want to go?

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