There are many people who have contributed to making this book and its message a reality. I am deeply indebted and grateful for their support and insights on this journey.
How fortunate to have a family with both the love and the professional experience to give substantive feedback and provide the nudge forward when I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. My wife, Colleen; our daughter, Diana, with her husband, Evan; and our son, Garrett, and his wife, Kate—all made time to pilot our initial program, helped shape the core hypotheses, and reviewed endless drafts.
Professionally, trainers and consultants played a role in evolving the concepts, program, and book. Amy Daly-Donovan, Shelina Pabani, Greg Sammis, Mark Perkins, Jeanne Tari, and Stacy Kuehnis all made significant contributions. So did executives like Todd Pierce from Salesforce and Genentech/Roche, Ben Treynor Sloss from Google, Christine Landon from eBay, Steve Umphreys from Salesforce and Zuora, Judy Heyboer from Genentech/Roche, and Joan Cronin from Applied Biosystems.
Many thanks to the guidance of authors Joseph Grenny, Greg McKeown, Liz Wiseman, and Jerry Weissman, and to Clare Novak for her ongoing support and knowledge of publishing. All wrestled the best out of me, by posing daunting questions and offering their well-earned wisdom.
A special callout to Laura DeBacker, who worked on our team before resuming her role as vice president of talent development with a hot Silicon Valley company. Laura worked tirelessly with me on taking the program to the next level as well as providing feedback and input during the earlier stages of this book.
Thanks to David Renaud and Ethan Dreyfuss, two deep technologists, for their help in formulating the Impact Score.
My mentor of more than twenty years, Ken Coleman, by posing his seemingly innocent questions, continues to help drive me forward both professionally and personally.
My agent, Rafe Sadalyn with ICM, and my editor, Helen Healey, at Penguin Random House were pivotal in making this book a reality.
And to the literally thousands of people at hundreds of companies where I’ve led programs through the decades, I have learned more from you!
With real love for those who have touched my soul,
Richard