The Lighthouse Effect: How Ordinary People Can Have an Extraordinary Impact in the World

Written by Steve Pemberton

Narrated by Rick Jones

In this stirring follow-up to his memoir, Steve Pemberton gives practical encouragement for how you can be a "human lighthouse" for others and through these inspiring stories will renew your hope for humanity. 

Our polarized, divisive culture seems to be without heroes and role models. We are adrift in a dark sea of disillusionment and distrust and we need "human lighthouses" to give us hope and direct us back to the goodness in each other and in our own hearts. 

Steve Pemberton found a lighthouse in an ordinary man named John Sykes, his former high school counselor. John gave Steve a safe harbor after Steve escaped an abusive foster home and together they navigated a new path that led to personal and professional success. Through stories of people like John and several others, you will identify how the hardships you have overcome equip you to be a "human lighthouse," inspiring those around you. 

The humble gestures of kindness that change the course of our lives can shift the course for America too. With a unique vision for building up individuals and communities and restoring trust, The Lighthouse Effect opens your eyes to those who are quietly heroic. You will reflect on the lighthouses in your own life and be reminded that the greatest heroes are alongside us--and within us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Sep 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9780310362340

Steve Pemberton

Steve Pemberton is Chief People Officer for Workhuman, the leading online platform bringing positivity to the workplace through social recognition. Prior to assuming his role at Workhuman, Steve was a Senior Human Resources Executive at Walgreens. Steve and his wife, Tonya, are the proud parents of three children.

Reviews for The Lighthouse Effect

[Highlight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Illinois author Steve Pemberton earned his degree from Boston College and has become a motivational speaker, a philanthropist, a senior level executive for such companies as Monster.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Workhuman (previously known as GloboForce), and a trustee at Boston College.

The author’s impact on the world has been significant since the release of his highly acclaimed and respected book A CHANCE IN THE WORLD, also adapted for the screen as a movie. In that book Steve Klakowicz (his birth name) shared his childhood with his abusive mother (White Irish-Catholic) and father (a bl*ck prizefighter) who deserted him, the abusive foster care homes he endured, and ultimately how he steeled his resolve: “excelling in school, outsmarting them in any way I could was as important to me as breathing air.” His gratitude for the people in his life who showed kindness became the ‘lighthouses’ of the title of this new book, THE LIGHTHOUSE EFFECT.

As Steve states, ‘The lighthouse effect is the simple idea that any of us can pause and change the life of another. And that our own lives are altered and transformed by the seemingly ordinary people who come along and touch our lives at just the right time.’ With consummate artistry, he offers several “lighthouses’ in his book – people who showed him small acts of kindness that he held onto for dear life – a neighbor who brought him boxes of books, a construction worker that let him be part of their crew for a few weeks, a letter carrier who offered him an encouraging word, a teacher (John Sykes) took him in for a year and taught him fatherly lessons.

In the opening chapter the challenges faced are described: “They don’t know what to do with me,” I thought. It was a familiar feeling. I’d entered the foster care system at the age of three, taken away from my mother, who had been in a losing battle with alc*holism, two weeks before Christmas. I would never see her again. What followed was a nomadic journey from one foster family to another, largely because there wasn’t a manual for what to do with a biracial boy who had been labeled as damaged goods…’ And that initial chapter is the story of his significant relationship with high school counselor John Sykes – the initial lighthouse in his life.

Steve’s powerful book encourages us all to be lighthouses for others, ready to be there when needed by those who stare into the night of hopelessness. This is a book about humanity and the importance of kindness – an inspirational book so desperately needed at this time. Very highly recommended.