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Put a Cherry on Top: Generosity in Life & Leadership
In Put a Cherry on Top, Joyce Russell shares memorable stories and actionable advice that will help you bring optimism, generosity, authenticity, and courage into your workplace and life. You'll be inspired to join Joyce as she strives to make a difference every day in the lives of colleagues, clients, and family. Putting a cherry on top is what Joyce does every day. As President of the Adecco Group Foundation, she makes an extra effort to go above and beyond and create truly memorable experiences that show appreciation for her colleagues and clients, and you can learn to do the same. In this book, you'll learn how to lead your life with more passion, purpose, and meaning. You'll gain leadership skills like what it means to vote with your time, when to go to the fire, how to hire and inspire talent, and why your boss is your best customer. You'll also learn how to be the best version of yourself. If you aspire to leave a legacy and lead a more meaningful life, read this book.
146 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 12, 2025
This is a super simple read with lots of practical call to actions and reminders to pursue excellence and be willing to go above and beyond, at work and at home.
January 21, 2024
I read this book to prepare for a book club discussion that I learned about through work. The group WIN (Women’s Industry Network) is for women in the automotive industry and has a discussion coming up with the author of this book so I wanted to read it. Joyce Russell is the author and she is President of the Adecco Group which is a staffing firm to help companies find temps and talent to hire.
Just a few pages in, I ran to grab a stack of sticky notes so I could start highlighting some of the quotes and themes that jumped out to me.
A lot of the book can apply to work and many parts also carry over to interacting with people in any scenario in life. At the beginning is a quote from Life’s Little Instruction Book that resonates with me: “Marry the right person. This is one decision that will determine 90% of your happiness or misery”.
Joyce loves people who act quickly to get things done and accomplish tasks, or the “doers”.
She also talks about not hiring jerks. She mentions that jerks have low emotional intelligence (EQ) and can destroy a team. I was excited about that topic as I’m taking an Emotional Intelligence course through CWRU this week! Hiring the right people makes a world of difference and I’ve learned that by some great experiences and some that did not work out.
I loved some of Joyce’s suggestions of behavioral questions to ask during an interview. One example is “Tell me about a time when you were inconvenienced and had to change your plans to accommodate the wishes, wants, and needs of someone else”. Another question she asks is “Tell me a success story in your life before age 18”.
One theme she talks about is how culture always beats strategy. Leaders have the privilege of creating and protecting the culture. Culture creates engagement, which drives results. She says create a culture of:
-integrity (do the right thing)
-reward performance
-support & development
-communication
-teamwork & collaboration
-inclusion
-hard work & fun
When Joyce was a kid, her parents took her and her two sisters on vacations in the summers and they visited 49 states. She has fond memories of their trips and said her parents always tried to do one extra special “cherry on top” experience. She had carried the concept with her and gave an example of when she received special treatment at a hotel she asked for an Apple. They weren’t sure if she wanted red or green so they brought her one of each.
She says go out of your way to put a cherry on top for others!
As she talked about rewarding the doers she quotes Maya Angelou “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
She also talks about how people don’t quit companies, they quit managers. People want to hear the truth and though confrontations are difficult and stressful, confrontation means you care.
There is a chapter about managing up - which makes me think about my relationship with my own manager and what I can do to improve there. I plan on sharing this list along with other tips from the book with some colleagues and my direct reports.
Joyce met with Suzy Welch about a book she wrote. She shared a great life management tool, the 10-10-10. The advice is to think about what your decisions will mean to you in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years to put different scenarios into perspective. I have tried to do something like this and it is harder than it sounds to implement. Joyce had a good example of something from her personal life with her son wanting her to come to his last home lacrosse game the same day as a big client meeting. Joyce used this approach and went to the game, because that’s what she’ll remember in 10 yrs and she had a solid co-worker to attend the meeting in her place.
Another quote towards the end that made me smile: “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind”. - Henry James
Joyce loves people that are courageous and generous. I can’t wait to hear her talk this week. What an impressive and inspiring woman!
Just a few pages in, I ran to grab a stack of sticky notes so I could start highlighting some of the quotes and themes that jumped out to me.
A lot of the book can apply to work and many parts also carry over to interacting with people in any scenario in life. At the beginning is a quote from Life’s Little Instruction Book that resonates with me: “Marry the right person. This is one decision that will determine 90% of your happiness or misery”.
Joyce loves people who act quickly to get things done and accomplish tasks, or the “doers”.
She also talks about not hiring jerks. She mentions that jerks have low emotional intelligence (EQ) and can destroy a team. I was excited about that topic as I’m taking an Emotional Intelligence course through CWRU this week! Hiring the right people makes a world of difference and I’ve learned that by some great experiences and some that did not work out.
I loved some of Joyce’s suggestions of behavioral questions to ask during an interview. One example is “Tell me about a time when you were inconvenienced and had to change your plans to accommodate the wishes, wants, and needs of someone else”. Another question she asks is “Tell me a success story in your life before age 18”.
One theme she talks about is how culture always beats strategy. Leaders have the privilege of creating and protecting the culture. Culture creates engagement, which drives results. She says create a culture of:
-integrity (do the right thing)
-reward performance
-support & development
-communication
-teamwork & collaboration
-inclusion
-hard work & fun
When Joyce was a kid, her parents took her and her two sisters on vacations in the summers and they visited 49 states. She has fond memories of their trips and said her parents always tried to do one extra special “cherry on top” experience. She had carried the concept with her and gave an example of when she received special treatment at a hotel she asked for an Apple. They weren’t sure if she wanted red or green so they brought her one of each.
She says go out of your way to put a cherry on top for others!
As she talked about rewarding the doers she quotes Maya Angelou “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
She also talks about how people don’t quit companies, they quit managers. People want to hear the truth and though confrontations are difficult and stressful, confrontation means you care.
There is a chapter about managing up - which makes me think about my relationship with my own manager and what I can do to improve there. I plan on sharing this list along with other tips from the book with some colleagues and my direct reports.
Joyce met with Suzy Welch about a book she wrote. She shared a great life management tool, the 10-10-10. The advice is to think about what your decisions will mean to you in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years to put different scenarios into perspective. I have tried to do something like this and it is harder than it sounds to implement. Joyce had a good example of something from her personal life with her son wanting her to come to his last home lacrosse game the same day as a big client meeting. Joyce used this approach and went to the game, because that’s what she’ll remember in 10 yrs and she had a solid co-worker to attend the meeting in her place.
Another quote towards the end that made me smile: “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind”. - Henry James
Joyce loves people that are courageous and generous. I can’t wait to hear her talk this week. What an impressive and inspiring woman!
June 1, 2020
Excellent and entertaining read! Brought to light several methods to do exactly what the title implies.. how to 'Put a Cherry on Top'! I will be using the strategies that Joyce details in my day-to-day business actions. I loved the personal anecdotes and how everything tied in together. Highly recommend!
June 1, 2020
Put a Cherry on Top is full of memorable anecdotes and strategies to help you make a positive difference with your peers and colleagues. Joyce's voice and stories make for a quick read that will leave you feeling inspired and ready to spread generosity and joy! Looking forward to passing this along to my friends and coworkers!
June 1, 2020
What a great read! How we should act not only at our work but at life. Give that little extra that makes all the difference in all we do! Highly recommend!
May 21, 2020
Inspiring, energizing, and entertaining! Joyce Russell's personal stories and the lessons she's learned as a business leader are riveting and eye-opening. A great read for women business leaders, aspiring leaders, and moms trying to integrate career and family.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews