ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Elaine Morris, for the many, many accountability phone calls to help me stay on track in the writing process;

Sealy Yates, my literary agent, for your continual excellence in cocrafting my writing career, and a great friendship;

Sandy Vander Zicht, executive editor at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, for encouraging me to write from passion and interest in this topic;

Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, for your leadership and for your support of this project;

Steve Halliday, my writing coach, for your insights into making this book an integrated whole;

My wife, Barbi, for your love, presence, and suggestions during the writing process;

My men’s group, along with Greg Campbell and Scott Makin, for your steady support in creating this book;

The Townsend Leadership Program team members, for letting me try out the concepts and skills in the material;

The Townsend Institute of Leadership and Counseling, for using this book content to train others in their fields of competence;

Christine Ames and Deana Vollaro, my assistants, for creating and following through with a writing schedule that worked.

And to several people who provided their thoughts and personal experience narratives: Dave Bradley, Dennis Del Valle, Dan Granger, Richard Halderman, John Hersker, Paul Rasa, Benny Townsend, Ricky Townsend, Bob Whiton, Brian Williams, and Wayne Williams. Your insights and vulnerability made this a better book.