I've pretty much spent my whole life making stuff no one really needs; ephemeral playthings for people with discretionary time and income to twitch, click, and tweet away. This book is my attempt to engage more meaningfully in the business sphere.

I want to thank the women leaders and entrepreneurs who shared with me their insights and continue to inspire us all. Lisa Maki, Pam David, Erika Trautman, Niniane Wang, Cheryl Yeoh, Melody McCloskey, Shelley Ross, Laura Parmer‐Lohan, Adriane Brown, Maha Ibrahim, Debbie Landa, Bridget Frey, Penny George, Charlotte Guyman, Christina Watt, Dr. Ellie Guardino, and Kristen Hamilton contributed valuable time and personal stories to make the important issues in this book come alive. May you readers benefit from their sage wisdom, as I have immeasurably.

And, in some cases, women contributed stories but requested to be anonymous. In those cases, we have used first names only and removed personal details. But your stories are still powerful contributions, and I thank you also for your contributions.

I could not have written this book without Grace Kahng. She is the quarterback from whom I hear all audibles and the navigator who is unafraid of choppy waters. Her editorial instincts are nothing short of masterful, refining and reshaping cloddish ideas into those worthy of publication. She is the very model of the kind of effective blended leadership that I speak of, and I honestly don't know how she does what she does so dang well, all the time.

I thank my colleagues Karen Cooper and Molly Shapiro, who contributed thoughtful edits and encouraged me to humanize this book with personal stories. Ana Fleming fact‐checked the hell out of the manuscript, following my side notes and recollections back to authoritative research and reportage.

My editor at John Wiley & Sons, Jeanene Ray, is the believer. Despite my amateur confusion around timelines, production sequencing, and book marketing, Jeanene has been the perfect editor, never doubting for a minute that “Team Better Together” would deliver. And working with Danielle Serpica, Caroline Vincent, and Peter Knox of Wiley has been a similar pleasure and honor.

Most important, heaps of gratitude go to my wife, Heather, who set the high bar for patience, teamwork, and tolerance while I wrote this book. Her living example of strong female power has opened my mind to behaviors and attitudes that were subtly sexist both at my companies and at home, and it is she who deserves the lion's share of credit for raising a feminist son and offering a glimpse of a most hopeful future to come.