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James Keyes

James Keyes

Former CEO of 7-Eleven & Blockbuster | Chairman of Key Development LLC | Bestselling Author & Global Keynote Speaker

Aug 2, 2026

9:10
Maybe as a leader and for all of us navigating unprecedented disruption, what did that experience teach you about how leaders should show up when the future is not clear and when the stakes are so high?
9:26
Yeah, there's so many lessons in Blockbuster that I could share, but probably one of the most important to reflect on is it's easy when, especially with 2020 hindsight, to question the decisions that someone made.
9:43
I had no choice but to take the company through a restructuring and people could say, well, blah, blah, blah.
9:50
Yeah, and for a whole host of reasons, say you didn't keep up with technology or you didn't do this, you didn't do that.
9:56
It's easy to judge the decisions someone's made without knowing the choices they had at any given time.
10:04
And that's when leadership really has to be able to, as you said, simplify with all of the choices.
10:12
We had so many things coming at us at Blockbuster at the same time.

10 MINS LATER

20:37
What is giving you hope right now?

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