James Keyes

And I was given tasks and I was sent off to do these tasks. And I came back from every task. Then I woke up. Darn it. I woke up too early. I didn't get my gift. And I write down three words, change, confidence, and clarity. I said, what the heck does that mean? The next morning I'm thinking about it and this, I didn't get my gift. And then I started talking about it.

And I was given tasks and I was sent off to do these tasks. And I came back from every task. Then I woke up. Darn it. I woke up too early. I didn't get my gift. And I write down three words, change, confidence, and clarity. I said, what the heck does that mean? The next morning I'm thinking about it and this, I didn't get my gift. And then I started talking about it.

Virtually everybody that I shared that story with said, that is your gift. How do you think you got there? You were able to take the worst kinds of change from the time you were a little kid and turn that into a positive. So you've recognized that change equals opportunity. That is the very acronym CEO. Change equals opportunity. That's the role of a CEO.

Virtually everybody that I shared that story with said, that is your gift. How do you think you got there? You were able to take the worst kinds of change from the time you were a little kid and turn that into a positive. So you've recognized that change equals opportunity. That is the very acronym CEO. Change equals opportunity. That's the role of a CEO.

And you're the best person we know at being able to deal with change, good or bad. And you've got this weird sense of confidence that you can do anything. I realize now that all it is is a matter of learning. I don't learn to do anything.

And you're the best person we know at being able to deal with change, good or bad. And you've got this weird sense of confidence that you can do anything. I realize now that all it is is a matter of learning. I don't learn to do anything.

And then they said the third thing is you've got this weird sense of clarity that you break complex things into really simple terms that you can then communicate it out Clearly, change, confidence, and clarity, that was the gift of those three things that I didn't even know I had, I think anyone can use to find their own personal or professional success.

And then they said the third thing is you've got this weird sense of clarity that you break complex things into really simple terms that you can then communicate it out Clearly, change, confidence, and clarity, that was the gift of those three things that I didn't even know I had, I think anyone can use to find their own personal or professional success.

Well, I've hit a lot of walls in my career. People forget that 7-Eleven was bankrupt back in 1991, shortly after I joined the company. And I thought, Man, what a bad career decision. I went from a major oil company to 7-Eleven thinking that it was going to be a great career trajectory, and I find them now bankrupt. This is one of those things that change equals opportunity.

Well, I've hit a lot of walls in my career. People forget that 7-Eleven was bankrupt back in 1991, shortly after I joined the company. And I thought, Man, what a bad career decision. I went from a major oil company to 7-Eleven thinking that it was going to be a great career trajectory, and I find them now bankrupt. This is one of those things that change equals opportunity.

The company had 10 years of same-store sales declines, was really on a difficult trajectory. It was growing still, but it was having trouble keeping up with competitors, and it ultimately had to file for bankruptcy. But That gave it the opportunity to reinvent itself.

The company had 10 years of same-store sales declines, was really on a difficult trajectory. It was growing still, but it was having trouble keeping up with competitors, and it ultimately had to file for bankruptcy. But That gave it the opportunity to reinvent itself.

We were able to look at the success of our licensed operations around the world, places like Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, bring those learnings back to the United States. So we were able to reinvent the company and come out of bankruptcy as a successful entity. For me personally, it ended up being a great opportunity because I thought I was going to lose my job like everybody else.

We were able to look at the success of our licensed operations around the world, places like Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, bring those learnings back to the United States. So we were able to reinvent the company and come out of bankruptcy as a successful entity. For me personally, it ended up being a great opportunity because I thought I was going to lose my job like everybody else.

But we came out of bankruptcy and I ended up with a promotion and was put in charge of strategic planning for the new enterprise, led to then a career trajectory that gave me an opportunity ultimately to be CEO of 7-Eleven.

But we came out of bankruptcy and I ended up with a promotion and was put in charge of strategic planning for the new enterprise, led to then a career trajectory that gave me an opportunity ultimately to be CEO of 7-Eleven.

So we took adversity, crisis, and then turned it into the next 10 years, 15 years of significant success, which when we sold the company in the year 2005, gave me the opportunity then to take on the challenge of Blockbuster. So I went into Blockbuster, eyes wide open. I knew it was going to be a challenge. Didn't know the kind of challenge we would face. Yeah.

So we took adversity, crisis, and then turned it into the next 10 years, 15 years of significant success, which when we sold the company in the year 2005, gave me the opportunity then to take on the challenge of Blockbuster. So I went into Blockbuster, eyes wide open. I knew it was going to be a challenge. Didn't know the kind of challenge we would face. Yeah.

Because no one thinks about Blockbuster and 7-Eleven as the same thing, except they're two iconic brands, right? If you think about the nature of Blockbuster's business, it wasn't renting DVDs. That wasn't their business. Their business was convenient access to media entertainment. It's a convenience business, not unlike 7-Eleven. They made the pivot

Because no one thinks about Blockbuster and 7-Eleven as the same thing, except they're two iconic brands, right? If you think about the nature of Blockbuster's business, it wasn't renting DVDs. That wasn't their business. Their business was convenient access to media entertainment. It's a convenience business, not unlike 7-Eleven. They made the pivot