ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Imagine a world where the work you do really matters. Where the person whom you call your boss changes your life by helping you accomplish more than you ever thought possible. Where your own opportunities would multiply in ways you may have been afraid to even dream of. That’s the world this book is about, the world of superbosses and the incredible yet often disarmingly simple things they do to make all this happen.

I’ve been unbelievably fortunate to be at a place that nurtures and promotes the type of research and thinking that a project such as this entails. Even if it takes ten years to go from idea generation to publication, as this book has. The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College is an oasis in the frozen north: one that brings genius students and alumni to campus all year round, affords consistent access to CEOs and other leaders, surrounds you with curious colleagues, and gives you the time and money to do what you need to do to answer the questions you want answered.

As a professor at Tuck, I’ve been able to call on and learn from such colleagues as Ron Adner, Ella Bell, Connie Helfat, Steve Kahl, Adam Kleinbaum, Tom Lawton, Margie Peteraf, and Alva Taylor at Tuck, and Fred Haas, Chris Jernstedt, and Aaron Kaplan at Dartmouth, among many others. I’ve spoken about the ideas behind Superbosses to many MBA classes and Tuck alumni groups, generating both excitement to reinforce my focus and questions to push me to dig a little deeper.

There have been so many MBA and undergraduate students, student partners, and others who have contributed to the research at various times, and they deserve thanks. These include Bob Batt, Kelly Blewett, Matt Bolduc, Scott Borg, Cristen Brooks, Jamesa Brown, Will Buell, Jessica Burke, Louisa Carter, Fern Chaddad, Kevin Demoff, Noah Dentzel, Brian Flaherty, Eric Francis, Lauren Fraser, Matthew Goldfine, Catie Griggs, Andrew Grimson, Sarah Guinee, Evan Hacker, Alison Hillas, Vernita Irvin, Ramsey Jay, Juhi Kalra, Katherine King, Ore Koren, Britt Krivicich, Margot Lalonde, Ben Magnano, William Olgiati, Alex Olshonsky, Daiana Petrova, Brian Recht, John Rutigliano, Joseph Santo, Rebecca Savage, Jeffrey Shaffer, Mary Sieredzinski, Julie Skaff, Amy Sweeney, Cristina Tejeda, Scott Turco, Craig Urch, Mary Vargas, Betsy Wakeman, Sara Weeks, Sarah Williams, Sarah Austrin-Willis, and Chris Zablocki.

Working with Seth Schulman helped bring Superbosses to fruition and was incredibly valuable. Beyond talent, a pleasure to work with. Thank you, Seth.

The time and money to help pay for all these people, and even more important, the energy and interest among the team of deans at Tuck—Paul Danos, Bob Hansen, and Matt Slaughter—were essential. At Dartmouth, both former president and head of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim as well as current Dartmouth president Phil Hanlon were influential in crafting a university that lives many of the superboss virtues.

We conducted easily more than two hundred interviews with superbosses and their protégés, too many to list all of them here. Suffice it to say that thanks go to the literally dozens of CEOs and numerous other people who worked for a superboss and wanted to share their experiences with me, as well as the many superbosses themselves who fielded my questions about what they did and why they did it. I’d especially like to thank Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live for the two interviews he did with me, as well as encouraging several performers and writers to talk to me as well. Thanks to him, and to other leaders whom we talked to, including Joseph Abboud, Julius Blank, Lee Clow, Doug Conant, Mickey Drexler, Tommy Frist, Sid Ganis, Steve Hayden, Thomas Keller, Jim Kilts, Max Levchin, Gordon Moore, Elon Musk, Lou Neeb, Eric Ripert, Julian Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bill Sanders, Mike Seashols, Wayne Shorter, David Swensen, Luc Vandevelde, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Alice Waters.

Numerous friends listened to what I was up to, seldom giving voice to my “scintillating” pace but instead doing the one thing that has continued with virtually everyone I talk to about the research. They’d bring up their own superboss—that influential person they worked for, at some point in their lives, who made a difference. To see their eyes when they described these people is to see the incredible impact that one person, one boss, can have on others. So to friends like Ephi Eyal, David Garrison, Larry Hoffer, Michael Johnson, Ilene Kahn, Joel Krasnow, Blair LaCorte, Nigel Leeming, Joel Litwin, Melinda Muth, the late Kirby Myers, Cathy Nieman, Mara and Rich Weissmann, and Harry Zelnick, thank you.

This is the second time around with my publisher, Portfolio, and the team has come through again. My editor, Natalie Horbachevsky, was spot-on with guidance, and the power team of Adrian Zackheim and Will Weisser demonstrated why they’re at the top of the business. I thank my agent, Lorin Rees, for bringing me back to Portfolio and providing feedback when it was most needed. I had many conversations with Helen Rees about this book long before a word was written, a testament to her influence and presence for me, and so many other authors. She is, and will continue to be, very sorely missed.

I’m particularly fortunate to be able to draw on an amazing team of individuals to spread the word about Superbosses. At Tuck, Gina des Cognets, Anne Linge, Justine Kohr, and Jen Johnson; at Portfolio, Margot Stamas; and my own team of Kiki Keating and my daughter, Erica Finkelstein.

Various sections and drafts of this book were completed in coffee shops. For a foodie and coffee snob, this was as it should be. At places like Caffe Medici in Austin, Primo Passo Coffee and Intelligentsia in Los Angeles, Stumptown and Joe in New York, Coutume in Paris, and the Dirt Cowboy and Market Table in Hanover, baristas did their thing and left me alone. As it should be.

Over the course of ten years life goes on, and sometimes you see someone you love dealt the worst of hands yet somehow demonstrate extreme courage and wondrous inspiration throughout. Even when ill, my niece now in heaven, Jacqui, would ask me about my “new book.”

You also watch as your daughter grows into a strong and talented young woman. The connections between husband and wife turn deeper and richer. The love and support of Erica and Gloria are as sure as anything can be.

This book is dedicated to my mother, certainly the first superboss I ever experienced. Despite, or perhaps because of, an unsparing life, my mother was a tower of strength, both to me and my older brothers, Simon and Arthur. I couldn’t help but think of her as I learned how superbosses inspired others to do more than they ever thought possible, how closely involved superbosses were with their protégés, and how in the end they prepared their offspring to move forward to bigger opportunities. She passed some time ago, but you never forget a superboss.