This book was inspired by a course I teach at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. I’d like to thank the school’s former dean, Dipak Jain, for encouraging me to start the course and for his continual support during the past eight years. My teaching colleague, Michelle Buck, deserves appreciation for her expertise and inspiration—she has awakened many CEOs and other top executives to their own personal journeys.
Two corporate visionaries have invited the soul of leadership into their daily operations: Al Carey of Frito-Lay and George Zimmer and the board at Men’s Wearhouse. It’s exciting to see them in the forefront of change, and the same goes for Jeremy Moon and Renata M. Black, who generously provided me with their personal stories. Thanks to all.
I have been proudly associated as a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization, which has collected more data on leadership and the workplace than any other source in the world. Thanks to Gallup’s CEO, Jim Clifton, for giving me this privilege. I’m also grateful to Danielle Posa, my liaison at Gallup, who generously provides me with any information I need.
Gallup is the source of two groundbreaking books that guided me through many issues: Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, and Well-Being: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter. I cannot recommend them highly enough to anyone who wants a positive approach to leadership based on results gleaned from thousands of interviews.
My longtime friend and wise editor, Peter Guzzardi, deserves much thanks for his patience in bringing this book to fruition. He manages to make rewrites easy when no one else could. At the publishers I have had the loyalty and support of some wonderful people, including Shaye Areheart, Jenny Frost, Tina Constable, and Julia Pastore. Our warm relationship has been the mainstay of my writing career. It has now extended to include Maya Mavjee, who has welcomed me to a new phase of our partnership.
The Chopra Center includes the most faithful support group anyone could wish for: Carolyn and Felicia Rangel and Tori Bruce, my heartfelt thanks.
And as always, unending love to my wife, Rita, and our children, Mallika, Gotham, Sumant, and Candice, and to my beautiful babies Tara, Leela, and Krishan: home for me is wherever you are.