The Ripple Effect recounts this remarkable journey with warmth, humor, and insight while making the bold claim that the workplace can become our leading platform for advancing humanity. The inspiring individuals who shared this journey with Kevin, including a nighttime custodian, an unassuming mill manager, a Dakota elder, a non-traditional healer who cured her own cancer, and more—create a heartfelt story that is both a blueprint for a thriving business and a love letter to humanity. This book reads like a hug, invites self-reflection, and demands more from the place of work. Companies and customers can’t thrive unless employees do and thriving employees can help heal a hurting world.
He was losing his voice. Then he discovered what happens when everyone else finds theirs.
Kevin Hancock was leading one of America’s oldest family businesses when a rare neurological disorder began taking away his ability to speak.
What seemed like a devastating personal setback became the beginning of an extraordinary leadership transformation. As speaking became more difficult, Hancock began listening more. Directing less. Making room for others to lead. And something remarkable happened. People found their voices. A business began to transform. And Hancock discovered a powerful truth: leadership isn’t about having all the answers or holding all the power. It’s about helping others discover the power within themselves.
In The Ripple Effect, Hancock shares how his personal journey inspired a new approach to leadership at Hancock Lumber, a seventh-generation family business founded in 1848. Through deeply personal stories, real-world business experiences, employee perspectives, and encounters far beyond the workplace, Hancock explores how trust, respect, listening, and shared leadership can transform organizations—and the lives of the people within them. This isn’t just a book about becoming a better leader. It’s about rethinking who gets to lead.
HE LOST HIS VOICE. OTHERS FOUND THEIRS. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN.
One transformation. Three ripples.
WITHIN | Better Culture
Change begins within. Discover how personal awareness and a new understanding of leadership can reshape the cultures we create.
BESIDE | Better Business
Build workplaces where people feel trusted, respected, valued, and heard—and where leadership is shared rather than concentrated.
BEYOND | Better World
Explore how the way we treat people at work can ripple outward into our families, communities, and the world.
A different kind of leadership story. Grounded in real experience.
- A 178-year-old family business: Discover how Hancock Lumber became a living example of shared leadership and employee empowerment.
- A culture built around every voice: Explore what happens when people are encouraged to feel trusted, respected, valued, and heard.
- Business transformation: Learn how a longstanding company evolved its approach to leadership, culture, and organizational performance.
- Lessons beyond the workplace: Follow Hancock’s more than 30 visits to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the experiences that deepened his understanding of voice, belonging, and human dignity.
“A wonderful, refreshingly human answer.”— Chuck Smith, Chief Executive Network
Who should read The Ripple Effect?
Business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, HR and organizational culture professionals, emerging leaders, and anyone who believes that leadership belongs to everyone—and that work can be a force for positive change and a place to advance humanity.
Pre-Sale Individual Purchases
Pre-Sale Bulk Purchases
