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Leaving Microsoft To Change The WorldStock informationGeneral Fields
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DescriptionJohn Wood discovered his passion, his greatest success, and his life's work âÃÂànot at business school or leading Microsoft's charge into Asia in the 1990s âÃÂàbut on a soul-searching trip to the Himalayas. Wood felt trapped between an all-consuming career and a desire to do something lasting and significant. Stressed from the demands of his job, he took a vacation trekking in Nepal because a friend had told him, "If you get high enough in the mountains, you can't hear Steve Ballmer yelling at you anymore." Instead of being the antidote to the rat race, that trip convinced John Wood to divert the boundless energy he was devoting to Microsoft into a cause that desperately needed to be addressed. While visiting a remote Nepalese school, Wood learned that the students had few books in their library. When he offered to run a book drive to provide the school with books, his idea was met with polite skepticism. After all, no matter how well-intentioned, why would a successful software executive take valuable time out of his life and gather books for an impoverished schoolB But John Wood did return to that school and with thousands of books bundled on the back of a yak. And at that moment, Wood made the decision to walk away from Microsoft and create Room to Read âÃÂàan organization that has donated more than 1.2 million books, established more than 2,600 libraries and 200 schools, and sent 1,700 girls to school on scholarship âÃÂàultimately touching the lives of 875,000 children with the lifelong gift of education. Reviews"In this captivating memoir....Wood provides recipes for how to succeed at operating nonprofit firms globally, regardless of local cultures." -- Library Journal |