reading

“A wonderful reminder of how our small daily actions can have tremendous effects on the people around us. We cast a shadow each and every day. Silent Impact is an inspiration and a fun read.”

“So you think you know Joe Schmit because you share a few minutes with him on KSTP every night? Forget it. What did he learn from the likes of Paul Molitor and Larry Fitzgerald? How about Mike Veeck and his daughter? How did he handle his own fight with cancer? You’ll enjoy the stories and the life lessons that go with them.”

“Seldom is a ‘success’ book a page-turner, but this one is. Schmit shares down-to-earth, pragmatic lessons you can immediately begin to implement and benefit from.”

“I was moved by the powerful examples and their authenticity. Silent Impact captures remarkable truths that will benefit and inspire everyone who reads this book.”

“The real-life stories illustrate and confirm how actions, attitudes, behavior, and judgments impact people in ways that can last a lifetime. Silent Impact establishes the basis for our most important relationship—the relationship we have with ourselves.”

“Leadership is all about influence; Silent Impact is a moving investigation of the many ways leadership reveals itself and how even the smallest of actions can have the greatest influence.”

SILENT IMPACT © copyright 2014 by Joe Schmit. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, by photography or xerography or by any other means, by broadcast or transmission, by translation into any kind of language, nor by recording electronically or otherwise, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in critical articles or reviews.

We make our biggest impressions when we are not trying to be impressive. The words we say or don’t say, the things we do or don’t do, and the way we react or don’t react all work together to make a powerful impact on those around us. It’s in our daily interactions that we make either a positive or a negative impact. I call this Silent Impact.

The problem is that many of us are sleepwalking through life—not realizing that through both the mundane and monumental moments of life, we are impacting those around us. Sometimes in this busy, crazy, hectic world, we become mesmerized by it all and lose our intentionality. We need to wake up and realize that whether we intend to or not, we are always leaving a mark.

If there were a going-away party tonight, which employee would the most people show up for? We asked that question to small, medium, and even large Fortune 500 companies. The results were remarkable. The people named were often not the ones at the top of the organization. Sometimes the most influen-tial person at work is not the person in the corner office. Sometimes it’s the person who cleans the corner office.

These impact players have more to say about the culture of your company or organization than most leaders suspect. It’s not only up to the leaders to find those people, but also to foster their greatness.

Sometimes the most influential person at work is not the person in the corner office. Sometimes it’s the person who cleans the corner office.

The people who were identified in our research as influencers all had certain traits in common. We broke them down into three areas: Purpose, Persistence, and Passion.

Those who had great impact in their workplace aligned their actions with their values. They were genuine. They had integrity and they always put the team in front of themselves.

Those who had great impact in their workplace were persistently positive and also relentless in their preparation. They routinely went above and beyond for everyone on the team—no questions asked.

Those who had great impact in their workplace were the heart and soul of the operation. They cared about others as employees, but they also cared about them as people. They knew what was going on in other people’s lives, enjoyed their successes, and showed concern over their adversities. They simply always, always cared.

I call these people impact players because of the undeniable influence they have on the world around them. Whether in the home, volunteer organization, church, or workplace, impact players are people who make everyone around them better just by being there. They have great influence in their company’s culture and in others’ lives. They are gold. That is what we all should strive to be.

Unlike many so-called self-help books, I decided not to use many quotes from people smarter than me. But this quote by the legendary Jackie Robinson is worth our focus. It is the real reason I wrote this book.

“A LIFE ISN’T SIGNIFICANT EXCEPT FOR ITS IMPACT ON OTHER LIVES.”

—JACKIE ROBINSON

Read it again and let it soak in. “A life isn’t signifi-cant except for its impact on other lives.” How can you be more significant? How can you have a bigger impact on others’ lives? Jackie Robinson changed the world when he broke the color barrier in baseball. In the end, it had little to do with baseball and everything to do with helping society change.

One of my favorite Jackie Robinson stories happened when the Brooklyn Dodgers were in Cincinnati, Ohio. Robinson had just committed an error in the field and the racial taunts and mean-spirited slurs had reached a crescendo. Shortstop Pee Wee Reese had heard enough. He went over and stood next to Robinson, put his arm around him, and faced the fans. The fans grew quiet. Later, Robinson said that unselfish act by Reese saved his career. More important than Robinson’s career was the strong public message of acceptance of African Americans demonstrated that baseball season. The support and influence of Jackie Robinson’s teammates made a powerful impact on baseball fans and on the entire country!

It’s a new focus on how you live, work, and play. It’s the intersection of two human traits: wanting to be appreciated and wanting to make a difference.

Silent Impact is a new way of thinking about the power of influence and how you can have a positive impact on many. It’s a new focus on how you live, work, and play. It’s the intersection of two human traits: wanting to be appreciated and wanting to make a difference. With some very simple steps, you can become a person of influence as a parent, as a friend and a colleague, and, more broadly, in your community. Influence is really the ultimate compliment because people will want to be like you and want to follow you.

This book is a collection of stories and vignettes that will help inspire you to have a focused look at influence and how you have an opportunity to make a silent impact on others. Some stories are about people you know and others are about people you don’t know. Some stories are personal to me and some are not. Some are long and some are short. The book includes action items that will help you accentuate your influence, be more successful in your job and career, and improve your relationships and overall happiness.

When Joe Mauer, six-time All-Star for the Minnesota Twins and 2009 American League Most Valuable Player (MVP), was going to Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the late 1990s, he was the big man on campus. Joe was tall, handsome, and one of the most-talented high school athletes in Minnesota history. He was offered a full-ride scholarship to play quarterback at Florida State, he was an All-State guard in basketball, and he was the best high school baseball player in the country. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2001, Joe Mauer is the only catcher in MLB history to win three batting titles.

In every lunchroom in every high school in the nation, there is a “cool” table where the coolest of the school eat lunch. Whether you sat there or not, you know it’s true. Joe Mauer earned a seat at that table, but he didn’t choose that table. You see, every day Mauer chose to sit with a classmate who was blind. As a matter of fact, Joe walked Mike Hally from his fourth hour class to the lunchroom, and after lunch, Joe walked him to his next class. Mike was a kid who could have been ignored or shunned because of his disability, but Joe made him one of the cool kids. Imagine the impact it had on Joe’s friends and other students at the high school. The ripple effect of Joe’s actions in high school is even more impactful now, given his rise to athletic fame. We make our biggest impressions when we are not trying to be impressive.

Over a decade has passed since Joe Mauer invited Mike Hally to sit at a table filled with popular athletes in high school, but the impact is still being felt today. Mike says that no matter how many All-Star games or batting titles Joe wins, he will always think of him as a better person than athlete.

“The act broke down barriers. It gave me confidence to meet other people. Joe taking me to lunch was a sign to all the other athletes that it was okay to be my friend,” Mike recalled. Mike also said that his parents feel indebted to Joe for the remarkable way he befriended their son during high school.

Joe just cared about other people. It was always about them and not about him.

One of the best days of the week in the lunchroom was pizza day. Brian Bohlig remembers that after lunch, Joe would make sure that Mike did not have any crumbs on his shirt and would even take a napkin and wipe his face if there was some pizza sauce on it.

“Before we realized it, everyone was doing it. Mike just became one of the guys. I remember that we laughed a lot,” Brian recalls. He added, “It was an incredible learning experience. Joe just cared about other people. It was always about them and not about him.”

Tony Leseman is now the Admissions Director of Cretin-Derham Hall High School. He is one of Joe Mauer’s best friends and was one of those students who sat at the cool table. Tony said that people should understand that Joe was such a big deal that kids would ask him for his autograph during the school day. “Whatever Joe did spread like wildfire in the school,” Tony recalled. “Joe was just Joe, he has no idea the impact he’s had.” Tony says that Joe wasn’t trying to be a hero. Lunch with Mike had to do with Joe’s values.

Mike Hally could not see, but you don’t need 20/20 vision to see that Joe Mauer is an impact player both on and off the field. I asked Joe why he took Mike to lunch every day. His answer was simple, yet powerful: “Because it was the right thing to do.”

*Even in this day and age of technology, journalists still use a reporter’s notebook to write down notes when researching a story. Whenever you see a Reporter’s notebook segment in this book, you know that author Joe Schmit used his reporting skills to dig deeper to uncover the lasting impact made in those people’s lives.

Brother Michael Lee has had hundreds of amazing students over the years at Cretin-Derham Hall High School. When he thinks about the greatest high school athlete he’s ever seen, Joe Mauer, he does not think about him for his athletic feats, but rather for his remarkable acts of kindness.