James Rhee: 'red helicopter: a parable for our times: lead change with kindness (plus a little math).'

An example of 'walking your why.'

Mar 30, 2024

James Rhee's work is admirable for its humility, empathy, bravery, heart, inclusiveness, agility, and ability to translate vision into action. He's also a 'frustrated musician'! Can you tell I’m a fan? He’s someone who is evidently 'walking his why'!

This information is available on his website. I'm sharing it here to raise awareness and highlight his significant work. The books out! (April 9th, 2024).'red helicopter—a parable for our times: lead change with kindness (plus a little math)’.

In a world where many are focused on the destination—be it acquisition, sale, achievement, or status—James Rhee's focus on the journey is refreshing. He prioritises the quality of actions and the 'how' over the 'what'. He places the focus on ‘values’ and delivers value, in a balanced way.

The most satisfying aspect of his story is not just his personal and professional growth, but also the far-reaching impact and success of his work. His influence extends beyond the private sector to non-profit organisations, education, and society at large, fostering inclusivity and uplifting communities.

Click to listen to the red helicopter composition.

Arirang Amazing Grace for a Red Helicopter

Inspired by James Rhee and arranged by Chad Cannon, Arirang Amazing Grace for a Red Helicopter© conveys the narrative of the book through music. Composed in e-flat major, this original arrangement utilizes counterpoint to convey the balance and innovation that can emerge when two distinct sets of ideas or voices are given permission to co-exist.

red helicopter ‘partnered with the All-American High School Film festival (AAHSFF) to encourage high school students to share their red helicopter stories’.:

Here’s the website: Taken from the red helicopter website:

red helicopter, is James Rhee’s media-education platform of the same name. It is an operating system—a way—, that creates, measures, and amplifies a sustainable balance of life, money, and joy in the life of business and the business of life. Its systematic impact has been informed by, successfully applied to, and further refined by decades of investing, leading, and teaching at the highest levels in a myriad of environments. red helicopter’s methodologies are grounded in the realities of history and policy, as well as the truths of finance, behavioral psychology, and cognitive science.

By centering agency, red helicopter creates agility and change.

James’ leadership story grabbed global attention during his unlikely seven-year tenure as Chairman and first-time CEO at Ashley Stewart, a fashion retailer with deep historical roots in the Black American community. After the financial community turned its back on this twice-bankrupt company, James left the world of private equity and lead the creation of a reimagined ecosystem that blurred boundaries and centered “Kindness and Math,” a combination that fueled an unprecedented transformation and transcendent success story. Core to the reinvention was the deep friendship and shared values between the son of Korean immigrants and a predominantly Black female employee group, who placed their mutual trust in each other, learned from one another, and then proceeded to quietly shock the world.

Following the conclusion of his tenure with Ashley Stewart, Howard University invited James to serve as the Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship, a Professor Entrepreneurship, and senior advisor to the Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership. In addition to his unprecedented appointment at Howard, James also currently teaches the red helicopter operating system as a Senior Lecturer at Duke Law School and MIT Sloan School of Management. James has been invited to teach in the classrooms of the world’s leading universities.

James continues to have an outsized impact in the private sector. He is a charter member of the Advisory Council of JP Morgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways and the Governing Committee of the CEO Action for Racial Equity. His family-office investment platform, named FirePine Group, has stewarded the capital of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors and continues to provide capital, defined in its broadest sense, to entrepreneurs creating true systemic value. Prior to founding this platform, James helped manage billions of dollars of growth and distressed oriented private equity capital at two leading Boston-based institutions. Presently, he serves as consigliere to some of the world’s leading executives and their organizations, and serves on the Board of Directors of Xponance, a $15+ billion asset management and investment firm focused on emerging manager strategies. He is a former honoree of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program, as well as a former director of Conscious Capitalism and the National Retail Federation, which awarded him its Power Player Award, given to those CEOs most impacting the future of retail.

Prominent civic and non-profit organizations have recognized the broader societal impact of James’ private sector endeavors. He is a Frederick Douglass honoree of the New York Urban League, the recipient of the Council of Korean Americans’ Trailblazer Award, and an honoree of One To World’s Fulbright Award. Ashoka, the pioneer in social entrepreneurship, elected him as a member of its Entrepreneur-to-Entrepreneur Network. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Coalition for Asian American Families and Children and is a former director of Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater.

James received his A.B. with honors from Harvard College and J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of Harvard Law Review. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three children. He is a frustrated musician.

"Give yourself permission to look at the business of life, and the life of business, in a different way." - James Rhee

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