A new book by the former CEO of H&R Block shares what he learned when he dropped out of corporate life to do something tougher and more fulfilling. Stand for the Best reveals some hard truths about America, illuminates the joys of pursuing one's passion, and challenges the rest of us to give back to our troubled nation.

Kansas City, MO (August 2008)—Society expects people who have it all to be complacent. Those who achieve or inherit wealth, power, and a fantastic life are expected to coast along contentedly, cushioned by a pillow of plentitude. But this is an unfair stereotype, asserts Tom Bloch, son of the co-founder of tax preparation giant H&R Block. Many of the "haves" do strive to lift up the "have nots." And as America struggles with issues that grow ever more daunting—rising gas prices, increasing home foreclosures, crime, poverty, and a soul-crushing wave of general anxiety and discontent—many others will need to follow their lead.

"America is facing unprecedented challenges right now, but I have faith that our country has what it takes to overcome them," says Bloch, author of Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner City Charter School (Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint, August 2008, ISBN-10: 0-4701889-6-0, ISBN-13: 978-0-4701889-6-5, $24.95). "Those of us who are blessed with plenty must rise to the occasion and serve the country that has given us so much."

Bloch's challenge to America is definitely not a case of "do as I say, not as I do." His autobiographical new book tells his inspiring story. In 1992 he was seemingly on top of the world when he took over as CEO of H&R Block—the tax preparation giant co-founded by his father—making close to a million dollars a year. (The family changed the spelling of the company name to "Block" to avoid mispronunciation.) But wealth and power came with a price, and soon Bloch felt the strain of living "the good life." 

"My wife, Mary, said I was having, at age 40, a midlife crisis," says Bloch. "I suppose that is as good a description as any, but I don't think it captures the depth of what I was feeling.  I was in the grip of something far bigger than that. I wanted my life, my one and only life, to make a bigger difference."

So in 1995, after 19 years at H&R Block, Tom announced his resignation and took a position teaching middle school math in the urban heart of Kansas City. Though he admittedly had no idea what was in store for him, the decision to leave his position as CEO was one of the best choices he ever made. Five years later he and another former CEO founded University Academy, a nationally acclaimed college preparatory charter school that reaches out to underprivileged kids in urban Kansas City. The school serves over 1,000 students in kindergarten through grade twelve. Over the last five years, all but two University Academy graduates have gone on to attend college, an almost unheard-of feat for an urban school.

"I am so proud of these students," says Bloch. "They are a real inspiration. If they can overcome the toughest of odds, the rest of America can rise above the sense of despair and negativity that's so pervasive right now."

Urban education lies at the heart of our most urgent national problem. We all know that too many underprivileged children end up like their parents—impoverished, uneducated, and lacking hope. This cycle will continue unless children are taught at a young age to value education. "To sustain our democracy, we cannot afford to let so many of our young people grow up without the tools they need to lead successful and productive lives. We simply can't have two Americas," he says. "Helping our underserved youth will help pull our nation out of its slump."

To close the achievement gap between the "haves" and "have nots," high standards must be set in all schools. Low standards produce low performance. All schools—whether they are public or private, urban, rural, or suburban—should establish high standards. "It's no secret that many of our nation's urban schools have lower standards," Bloch notes. "And out of a sense of pity, too many kids who haven't demonstrated academic proficiency are passed along from one grade to the next.

Pity is a dangerous trap for an urban teacher, who is tempted to feel sorry for the stereotypical poor, disadvantaged kid who might be viewed as having no future. No one helps kids by feeling sorry for them. It tells them only that their teachers expect them to fail and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Inner city teachers can be agents of personal and social transformation. At H&R Block, Tom Bloch dealt with motivated, upward-striving employees. Suddenly, he was trying to motivate kids who, all too often, lived hour to hour. "One day I confronted a student who never showed effort in class. Aren't you interested in going to college, Jamal? I asked. Aren't you interested in a better future? His reply was, I have no future. I couldn't believe what I was hearing," says Bloch. "That a child could actually think he was a lost cause shows our schools' and society's potential for failure. It made me determined to find a way to instill hopefulness into the lives of my students, who admittedly had very little to look forward to without a major change in their outlook and effort. I knew that if these kids believed in themselves, they would become successful."

Schools must focus on character education and not just academics. Some people question whether, in a diverse, multicultural society, schools should be in the values business. Of course they should, says Bloch. "Schools must teach caring, compassion, respect, and responsibility to help offset the corrosive aspects of our larger culture," he insists. "After all, who, other than parents and religious institutions, is better positioned to teach these things? Character education and academics go hand in hand. I have discovered that there are fewer disruptions in the classroom when there is a strong emphasis on character development."

Teachers must assume a meaningful role in the lives of students whose parents aren't involved in their children's education. "One day I met with Asafa's mother to tell her that her apathetic son was failing my class," recalls Bloch. "Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by the mother's reaction. 'I didn't like school either...or teachers,'" she told me. Parental indifference is a dreadful influence on a child's perception of the value of education. But there are plenty of wonderful examples of teachers who are helping children life Asafa redirect their lives, producing an immeasurable effect.

When we work at repairing the world, we are repairing ourselves. In his former CEO role, Bloch was making lots of money but was consumed with the pressures of his job. It took a career change to one of the most underpaid and under-appreciated professions to make him truly happy. The lesson is that money and power, which of course don't come easily to everyone, have little bearing on day-to-day contentedness. True happiness, as Bloch learned, comes from serving others. 

It's never too late to find your calling. "I finally realized that my work as a CEO of a large corporation would never bring the kind of fulfillment that I wanted in my one and only life," asserts Bloch. "I felt a calling to teach kids—urban kids who all too often lived in a world of poverty, crime, and hopelessness. It was the scariest and yet the most rewarding choice I ever made, and I wouldn't change my decision for anything. I am lucky to do what I like and to have an opportunity to make a difference."
 
While education happens to be Bloch's focus, it is his desire to serve that defines him. And you don't have to be a member of the privileged class to join him. Anyone who cares enough to make a difference can make a difference, even if it's only in the life of one person. That's the message that shines through on every page of Stand for the Best, and it's one that makes this book particularly important in these troubled times.

"This notion of a duty to strive for a more perfect world is deeply embedded in human history and the human spirit," he writes. "I am thinking here of the Hebrew phrase, far more ancient than America, of tikkun olam. It means 'repairing the world.' One body of Jewish teaching holds that God created the world by fashioning vessels of light, but that these vessels shattered into pieces when God poured Divine Light into them. In this view, the world consists of broken shards, and humanity's task is to try as best we can to mend it."