The HERO Effect - Revised Edition: Being Your Best When It Matters the Most!

by Kevin Brown

HEROES ARE EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE NOT TO BE ORDINARY! The world needs people who lead, love, and serve at a higher level. People who help us dream big dreams, achieve great things, and leave us better than they found us. People who exceed expectations and defy comparison. Those who make even the harshest critics stop in their tracks and admire the work. The Hero Effect™ is a personal revelation that also holds profound implications for business. The Hero Effect is an insightful narrative that challenges conventional thinking and reveals a brand-new paradigm in the world of everyday heroes.

Genres: Business, Personal Development, Nonfiction, Self Help, Leadership

Kindle Edition

Published January 10, 2019

About the author

Kevin Brown recently won the Permafrost Literary Journal's Midnight Sun Fiction Contest, the Touchstone Fiction Competition, and placed third in the Cadenza Fiction Contest. He has published work in GUD, Space & Time, Murky Depths, Morpheus Tales, sub-TERRAIN, Rosebud, and Underground Voices. His website is: http://www.invisiblebodies.com

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you ever get a chance to see Kevin Brown in person, you absolutely should. He’s a great speaker with a good message. This book is basically his keynote speech, so as a book it leaves a little to be desired. As a book it doesn’t flow very well, and it loses some of its charm in written form.

[Kylie Funk Kramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great speaker. Book is redundant to his keynote. Great ideas but a little cheesy.

[Eleanor Bland]

my new job had me read this lol but you already know that i’m adding it to goodreads so my count will go up lollll it’s only fair!

[Rachel Stelzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might be a little biased since the man I love handed me this book just days before he passed away.

But he handed it to me and said this is why I charge what I charge for my services and I don’t feel guilty.

Upon reading it I was so inspired to lead a life of higher excellence for my clients and those around me so that I know I’m giving someone the most luxury service possible in the hopes I will make them feel
Inspired and renewed.

I’d highly recommend anyone who works with clients and people to read this book.

[Carol Fenstermacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! I had the pleasure of hearing Kevin last summer - so there was nothing in the book that was a surprise - but reading it reminded of his presentation. I will read this book again and again.

[Tammy Clower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational! Can't wait to hear Kevin Brown speak at ASTRA Marketplace and Academy in June!

[Jonathan Condon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note - I have not listened to Kevin Brown speak. My review is entirely based on the content of the book 

This book is an attempt in inspire others into working harder, caring more, and leading better throughout their life as a whole. The biggest problem from my perspective with this is the "always on, always perfect" mentality that seems to penetrate this book's core. The idea that you must be your best self 100% of the time is suffocating. 

Have a bad day or difficult life event? Don't let it impact your work, otherwise you won't be a hero! Struggling with health? Don't let that get in the way of you smiling and serving as if you have no issues! Born with Autism? Kevin's son was able to overcome it and graduate highschool, so what's stopping you from being great?!

Kevin's "Hero Effect" could be inspiring, but so often the potential inspiration is lost for me when he delves into heavily ableist (and at times regressive) thinking. Other examples of ableism in the book are his mentor's battle with cancer (which his mentor attributed to slipping into bad habits and not being his best self) and his son's struggle with Autism, which I am repeating for a second time because it accounts for ~3-4 chapters of this small, ~120 page book printed at a 4th grade reading level.

There are some other strange patterns of thinking found within the book scattered between stories and equivocation fallacies which I can only explain as being appeals to emotion, because they certainly don't fit together logically. Even the idea of a "hero", the topic of the book is extremely poorly defined! At most I can surmise that the author believes a hero is any ordinary person who makes the choice to always be extraordinary, because being ordinary is a choice. There is no room for life circumstances, genetics, illness, or anything else to hold you back!

There are other little snippets about heroes buried in the text such as "heroes don't think about conditions" (which is a silly statement, because once you have assigned that condition to being a hero, you have already violated that rule). 

At the end of the day, just read something else (unless you had to read this for work like I did). There are many more, much better put together inspirational leadership books out there that don't encourage ableism and don't set standards that even robots can't achieve. 

[Wes Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from my hockey coach during Coronavirus quarantine as an 18 year old. My season got shut down and I lost my senior year of a game I played my entire life. I read this book then, but it didn’t sit with me, my mind was too immature to digest it. I come back to it 4 years later at 22 years old, and I was able to finally let it in. Brown is a fantastic speaker with a fantastic meaning. Being a hero comes in many shapes and sizes, but the one from this story that stuck with me was Aunt Bea, that was one of the most amazing stories I have heard and if everyone was like Aunt Bea the world would be a better place. She was a hero. I appreciate my coach giving me this book, it took me a little time to understand it, but that is everything life, everything good takes time.

Some quotes that I loved about this book
- Heroes dont conform to the box, they transform it
- It does not matter what everyone else thinks, all that matters is that you believe
- Its not who i am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

[janell brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encouraging read

The book is very similar to his speech on this subject. He had come to a meeting I attended and was very entertaining. My only feedback is that there were not additional stories to the book. If you've heard him live, it's almost word for word to the book.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring! Took me back to being a kid and remembering that I can do and be anything I put my mind to.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read with well developed points on how to choose to be extraordinary instead of living an ordinary life.

[Will Peek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving

It is a great thought provoking book, that helps you see the difference you can make. The difference occurs whether or not you even realize it.

[Rebecca (booksandbreggs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

All management and leadership should read this, but also anyone can learn how to dot..dot..dot..or be a hero. 5/5 stars.

[Subluxfixer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple quick and entertaining read.

[Finley Myler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing felt too low of a level and even when categorized it felt like the author was saying the same thing over and over again.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kevin Brown’s story is so inspiring. I was fortunate enough to attend one of his speaking events and was blown away by his presentation. He is so engaging and his way of conveying heroism is fascinating. This book was amazing. Seeing him in person was even better. I only gave the book 3 stars because I saw him in person. The live version was way more engaging, for obvious reasons. Also, the book mirrored the speech for the most part.

[Fayet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is heavily motivational and inspiring, but lacks a little detail in HOW to make the Hero Effect happen. Needless to say, it lit a fire for myself to do more reading on some of the concepts he discusses and figure out how to make it happen. This is an amazingly quick read with an amazing message. I hope to read this annually as a reminder to keep becoming a hero and thanking my heroes.

[Nadia Saar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories alone make this book worth every second. We can choose to be ordinary or extraordinary, but it’s up to us. Excellent short read.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, quick read. This book brought me to tears twice when sharing stories about heroes among us who made life special for others. Worth the read.

[Jann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspirational!

[Kim Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always up for a good acronym. The stories were inspirational and the book was a feel-good as a whole. Not a ton of depth but a good read.