We thank the people who played an essential role in publishing this book. First, Carole Sargent in the Office of Scholarly Publications at Georgetown University, who got us started in the right direction by introducing us to our incredible agent, John Willig. John in turn connected us to our editor, Karen Murphy, at Jossey-Bass, who added immeasurably to the book with valuable suggestions and insights. These caring people saw promise in the book and challenged us to demonstrate our potential in writing it.

Equally important is Gordon Swartz, who gave Alan the opportunity to be a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown, where many of the ideas in this book were formed and tested. Gordon also read every word of the drafts and provided helpful feedback. We also thank Tyler Schaeffer for his counsel in brand marketing and social media strategies. Others who played an important role in challenging us to improve this work were Jim Schleckser, Bob Busch, Kristin Haffert, Bernard Bailey, Mark Bowers, John Bukartek, and Carol Roche Austin. In addition, we acknowledge James Li for contributing conceptual artwork. We thank these people for sharing their time and creativity, both of which are precious indeed.

Alan S. Berson

I thank my parents for their unwavering belief in the contributions I would someday make. I wish my mom were here to see the book on the shelves, and am thrilled that my dad is able—at ninety-four—to walk into the bookstore and show it to his friends. I also thank my daughters, Caroline and Julie, for teaching me much about relationships, each in her own way. As my wife and trusted adviser, Leslie helped keep me sane and gave me the space and support during the process of writing this book. Finally, a thank you to Dick; our leadership conversations resulted in a much more powerful book than I initially envisioned.

Richard G. Stieglitz

From the bottom of my heart, I thank my wife, Mary Ellen, my best friend and biggest teacher, who has been supportive and understanding during the thousands of hours of writing and meetings with Alan. And a special thank you to my perceptive daughters, April and Tracy: a teacher learns a lot from his students. And also a warm thank you to all my associates and clients before, during, and after my twenty-two years at RGS Associates; I treasure the lessons I learned and the memories of our work together.