Acknowledgments

Writing Passion and Purpose has been a humbling and heartening experience. By design, it has been a collaborative effort—three authors, dozens of contributors, hundreds of survey respondents, and a bevy of editors and supporters. We are deeply grateful to all of those who have worked so hard to make Passion and Purpose a reality. The value and wisdom of the ideas presented in this book are a credit to those who have helped us.

A special thanks is due to Peter Olson. From the beginning, Peter was our guide, our mentor, and a constant source of creativity and encouragement. Drawing on his wealth of experience in the publishing business, Peter coached us during every step of the proposal writing process. Without him, this book would not have been written.

We’re similarly indebted to the classmates, friends, and professors who provided us with ideas, reviewed our early drafts, helped with survey distribution, and encouraged us to persevere. This list includes Nitin Nohria and professors Clayton Rose, Carl Kester, Tom Eisenmann, James Sebenius, John Macomber, Nic Retsinas, Arthur Segel, Richard Tedlow, Ray Weaver, and Joe Badaracco. We’d also like to thank Jim Aisner and our friends at The Harbus—Elana Green, Joanne Knight, and Kay Fukunaga—as well as Joey Castillo, Jerome Uy, Victor Calanog, William Panlilio, Gerald Yeo, Tyone Almeida, Jonathan Harris, Andrew Hirsekorn, Sunil Pandita, John Peek, Abhijit Dutta, Katharine Bowerman, and Nancy Howley.

We’d also like to thank Daisy Dowling, who shared her experience of going through the proposal writing and manuscript process, and Anne Myra Suarez and Jonathan Chu for their help in transcribing source documents and performing valuable research. We’d also like to express our appreciation to the administration and staff at Harvard Business School for providing us with resources required to complete the manuscript and related research.

Of course, the heart of this book is its pool of talented and passionate contributors—those appearing in these pages and those providing content online and in other forums. Both senior leaders and newly minted ones have been a genuine inspiration to us, and it was a privilege to work with each of them. We’d also like to thank the participants in the MBA Student Survey—whose views and opinions helped shape our thinking and strengthened our conclusions—and all those at schools around the country who helped us reach this diverse pool of respondents. We’re particularly grateful to Professor Bill George. Professor George is a living reminder of “true north” leadership, a brilliant teacher, and a friend and mentor to many. His support has been inspirational.

We could not have written, published, or promoted this book without the talented and tireless team at Harvard Business Press. Melinda Merino and Courtney Cashman were invaluable throughout the manuscript development process, and their passion for bringing out the stories of young leaders was contagious. Similarly, Jen Waring, Stephani Finks, Julie Devoll, and the rest of the Press team have been instrumental in shaping the final product.

Finally, there are a few acknowledgments we’d like to make individually.

John would like to thank his family—John, Shea, Chris, Dustin, Elliot, Sandy, Josh, Margaret, Karen, and Bryan—for their love and support. And, as always, he is deeply grateful for the contributions and encouragement of his wonderful wife, Jackie.

Oliver would like to thank Jordana Valencia for her unflagging patience and help in poring through the first draft of the manuscript. He’d also like to thank Jennifer Kelly, Joseph Segovia, and Franz Alfonso for their patience as he balanced a start-up with writing and editing the manuscript. Most important, Oliver would like to thank his parents, Willy and Nanette, for all their support.

Daniel would like to thank Mel, who was a constant source of inspiration and ideas and who endured his endless enthusiasm for this work. Daniel is forever grateful for his Mum, Dad, and brother Jason and their unconditional love—sent all the way from home.