Acknowledgments

This story would not have been possible without the help of many people:

First, God, who blessed me with creativity and a love of all things social!

Second, my family: Todd, Cassie, and Maria, who supported my weekends of writing; my parents, who inspired my bold ideas; my brother Gary’s love and support; and my in-laws, who cheered me on!

Third, key members of my review team who were deeply involved through all stages of the book: Liz Markiewicz, Kathy White, Ted Stanton, Jennifer Dubow, Judith Hurwitz, Roy Young, and Patricia Santamaria.

Fourth, a set of mentors to lead the way, including Jeffrey Gitomer, Charlene Li, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, and Guy Kawasaki, who all taught me and shared their experiences freely.

Fifth, my customers for the great sharing of their learnings: 1-800-FLOWERS, Amazon.com, American Eagle Outfitters, Apple, Arrow ECS, Ascendant Technology, AT&T, Austrialian Open, Avery Dennison, BASF, Blendtec, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Medical Center, Cars.com, Caterpillar, Celestica, CEMEX, China Deaf Association, China Telecom, Coach, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, DeepMile, Dell, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Domino’s Pizza, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Elegance II Energizer, Fabergé, Farmers Insurance, Farmers Insurance University, Ford Motor Company, Forrester Research, Gap, Gatorade/PepsiCo, gDiapers, Godiva Chocolatier, GoMidjets, Harley-Davidson, History Channel, The Home Depot, Honda, Indium Corporation, Jerry Pozniak@TheDryCleaner, Kenneth Cole, Kinaxis, Kraft Foods, Manulife Financial, Meteor Solutions, Mob4Hire, Moosejaw, Mountain Dew/PepsiCo, National Football League, Newell Rubbermaid, Practising Law Institute, Pratt & Whitney, Price Chopper, ProChile, Procter & Gamble, Quantum Storage Systems, Richard Scott Salon and Day Spa, RobustCloud The Salvation Army, Sennheiser Electronic GmbH & Co. KG, Sogeti, Southern California Edison, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Taylor Guitars, Teach for America United Airlines, US Open Tennis, uTest, Virgin Atlantic, Visa, Volkswagen, Volvo, The Walt Disney Company, and Zappos.com.

Sixth, all the IBMers around the world who assisted me on this book: Ted Stanton, Chris Crummey, Scott J Smith, Bill Hassell, Charlie Hill, Graham MacKintosh, Mark Heid, Michael Rhodin, Alistair Rennie, Kristen Lauria, Doug Cox, Bart Lautenbach, Matt Carter, Dawn Herndon, Sergio Loza, Camilo Esteban Rojas Lopez, Jeff Schick, Larry Bowden, Thom Hagen, Guy P. Pacitti, Bob McDonald, Carlos Belak, Nigel Beck, and Bob McDonald.

Finally, my new friends at Pearson Education: Mary Beth Ray, Chris Cleveland, and Betsy Harris. Thanks for all your great advice and support.