Overview

Porchlight's Best Leadership & Strategy Book of The Year An inspiring memoir from the CEO of DICK's Sporting Goods that is ""not only entertaining but will be of great value to any entrepreneur"" (Phil Knight, New York Times bestselling author of Shoe Dog). It's How We Play the Game shows how a trailblazing business was created by giving back to the community and by taking principled, and sometimes controversial, stands--including against the type of weapons that are too often used in mass shootings and other tragedies. Ed Stack's memoir tells the story of a complicated founder and an ambitious son--one who transformed a business by making it about more than business, conceiving it as a force for good in the communities it serves. In 1948, Ed Stack's father started Dick's Bait and Tackle in Binghamton, New York. Ed Stack bought the business from his father in 1984, and grew it into the largest sporting goods retailer in the country, with 800 locations and close to $9 billion in sales. The transformation Ed wrought wasn't easy: economic headwinds nearly toppled the chain twice. But DICK's support for embattled youth sports programs earned the stores surprising loyalty, and the company won even more attention when, in the wake of yet another school shooting--at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida--it chose to become the first major retailer to pull all semi-automatic weapons from its shelves, raise the age of gun purchase to twenty-one, and, most strikingly, destroy the assault-style-type rifles then in its inventory. With vital lessons for anyone running a business and eye-opening reflections about what a company owes the people it serves, It's How We Play the Game is ""a compelling narrative...In a genre that can frequently be staid, Mr. Stack's corporate biography is deeply personal...[Features] surprising openness [and] interesting and humorous anecdotes"" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

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9781982116927

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Ed Stack's story - told with honesty and a deep sense of corporate responsibility - shows that you can build a great business and stand up for what you believe in. --Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Three-Term Mayor of New York City In It's How We Play the Game, Ed Stack makes the compelling case that leading with the values of sports--like hard work, teamwork and selflessness--matters in business, and most of all, society. --Adam Silver, Commissioner of the NBA Ed Stack's life story demonstrates the valuable lessons taught by participating in sports. While growing up in upstate New York playing baseball and other sports, Ed learned the importance of teamwork and personal relationships. Those experiences formed the leadership foundation on which he built, from his father's single store, the largest full-line sporting goods retailer in America. Ed hasn't just made a difference for his employees and customers. He has been an important partner with Little League Baseball and many individual teams throughout the country, working hard to ensure that every boy and girl gets to enjoy our game, regardless of their circumstances. In our society, it's not just the people on the field who inspire, it's leaders like Ed Stack--men and women who bend down to lift people up. --Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Baseball Ed Stack is a giant in our industry--but it wasn't always so. He started small, experiencing many setbacks, and built a juggernaut step by step. It is those setbacks, and how he overcame them, that make for the most interesting reading. Ed's story is not only entertaining but will be of great value to any entrepreneur. --Phil Knight, former Chairman and CEO of Nike and New York Times bestselling author of Shoedog It's How We Play the Game paints a fascinating picture of a man who is a fulfilled leader and who understands that the ethos of sport is embracing your competition. That perspective, as well as Dick's Sporting Goods' constant adjustments to evolving consumer habits, are just two of the factors accounting for the chain's meteoric rise. Ed Stack's name should be on the impressive roll call of men and women whose will to compete, and success in doing so, offers inspiration and wisdom. --Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour An awe-inspiring story of overcoming obstacles and a must read for anyone looking to understand what it takes to become successful....The book shows Ed Stack's improbable rise from a reluctant volunteer in his father's one-store operation to a position, decades later, as one of the country's leading CEOs. Readers will find plenty of insight on how to manage and make tough decisions. If there were more people like Stack running companies, the world would be a better place. --Jimmy Dunne, Senior Managing Principal of Sandler O'Neill & Partners Leadership is doing the right thing when it isn't popular or easy. Ed Stack, as this powerful book makes clear, has been that kind of leader. We can all learn from his example. --Mark Kelly, former combat pilot, NASA astronaut, and coauthor, with Gabrielle Giffords, of Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Save from Gun Violence Ed Stack continues to play the game of life as well as anyone ever has. He stood tall after the tragic mass shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018 and his leadership on firearms forever changed our national dialogue. His authenticity, courage, and perseverance--and Dick's Sporting Goods' journey inspired by the Stack family--is a genuine American Dream success story. --Ed Herlihy, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Not many sons of founder entrepreneurs have the maturity to separate what their parent does well from what is undermining. In Ed Stack's case, his brilliance in doing so created a business several hundred times larger than what he started with. In It's How We Play the Game, Stack demonstrates that he's playing a different game than other retailers, moving past all the clich s about 'giving back' and turning his support of local communities into a kind of killer app. More than once he has bet his company's future on doing the right thing, and the results speak for themselves. Stack is a master of playing the long game. Few recent business books are as well-told or as rich in takeaways. --Jim Rohr, former Chairman of PNC Financial Services Group Ed Stack has created one of the greatest retail emporiums, a nationwide chain of stores that delights the sports enthusiast every day. As this book shows, he is an entrepreneur, corporate steward, and leader of an engaged workforce, but first and foremost, he is always thinking about his customers. His intuitive instincts have led Dick's and its employees on one of the most exciting journeys in the American retail space. --John Idol, Chairman and CEO of Michael Kors

Ed Stack's story - told with honesty and a deep sense of corporate responsibility - shows that you can build a great business and stand up for what you believe in. --Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP and Three-Term Mayor of New York City In It's How We Play the Game, Ed Stack makes the compelling case that leading with the values of sports--like hard work, teamwork and selflessness--matters in business, and most of all, society. --Adam Silver, Commissioner of the NBA Ed Stack's life story demonstrates the valuable lessons taught by participating in sports. While growing up in upstate New York playing baseball and other sports, Ed learned the importance of teamwork and personal relationships. Those experiences formed the leadership foundation on which he built, from his father's single store, the largest full-line sporting goods retailer in America. Ed hasn't just made a difference for his employees and customers. He has been an important partner with Little League Baseball and many individual teams throughout the country, working hard to ensure that every boy and girl gets to enjoy our game, regardless of their circumstances. In our society, it's not just the people on the field who inspire, it's leaders like Ed Stack--men and women who bend down to lift people up. --Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Baseball Ed Stack is a giant in our industry--but it wasn't always so. He started small, experiencing many setbacks, and built a juggernaut step by step. It is those setbacks, and how he overcame them, that make for the most interesting reading. Ed's story is not only entertaining but will be of great value to any entrepreneur. --Phil Knight, former Chairman and CEO of Nike and New York Times bestselling author of Shoedog It's How We Play the Game paints a fascinating picture of a man who is a fulfilled leader and who understands that the ethos of sport is embracing your competition. That perspective, as well as Dick's Sporting Goods' constant adjustments to evolving consumer habits, are just two of the factors accounting for the chain's meteoric rise. Ed Stack's name should be on the impressive roll call of men and women whose will to compete, and success in doing so, offers inspiration and wisdom. --Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour An awe-inspiring story of overcoming obstacles and a must read for anyone looking to understand what it takes to become successful....The book shows Ed Stack's improbable rise from a reluctant volunteer in his father's one-store operation to a position, decades later, as one of the country's leading CEOs. Readers will find plenty of insight on how to manage and make tough decisions. If there were more people like Stack running companies, the world would be a better place. --Jimmy Dunne, Senior Managing Principal of Sandler O'Neill & Partners Leadership is doing the right thing when it isn't popular or easy. Ed Stack, as this powerful book makes clear, has been that kind of leader. We can all learn from his example. --Mark Kelly, former combat pilot, NASA astronaut, and coauthor, with Gabrielle Giffords, of Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Save from Gun Violence Ed Stack continues to play the game of life as well as anyone ever has. He stood tall after the tragic mass shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018 and his leadership on firearms forever changed our national dialogue. His authenticity, courage, and perseverance--and Dick's Sporting Goods' journey inspired by the Stack family--is a genuine American Dream success story. --Ed Herlihy, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Not many sons of founder entrepreneurs have the maturity to separate what their parent does well from what is undermining. In Ed Stack's case, his brilliance in doing so created a business several hundred times larger than what he started with. In It's How We Play the Game, Stack demonstrates that he's playing a different game than other retailers, moving past all the cliches about 'giving back' and turning his support of local communities into a kind of killer app. More than once he has bet his company's future on doing the right thing, and the results speak for themselves. Stack is a master of playing the long game. Few recent business books are as well-told or as rich in takeaways. --Jim Rohr, former Chairman of PNC Financial Services Group Ed Stack has created one of the greatest retail emporiums, a nationwide chain of stores that delights the sports enthusiast every day. As this book shows, he is an entrepreneur, corporate steward, and leader of an engaged workforce, but first and foremost, he is always thinking about his customers. His intuitive instincts have led Dick's and its employees on one of the most exciting journeys in the American retail space. --John Idol, Chairman and CEO of Michael Kors

Author Information

Ed Stack is the Chairman and CEO of DICK's Sporting Goods. Born in Binghamton, New York, he now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife, Donna. It's How We Play the Game is his first book.

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