This book would not have been possible without the help and guidance of the following people. I cannot thank them enough for the impact they have had on my life. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to them.
Kathy, my strong and beautiful wife. I could not do what I do without your belief and support. I appreciate and love you with all of my heart.
Alexis, my incredibly wise daughter. You are as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. Your conscientiousness makes me so proud and you make me smile every day.
Gino, my quick-witted son. You are an engineer with an incredible personality. Thank you for always making me laugh so hard. I am so very proud of you.
Linda Wickman, my mom, for teaching me to be independent, for your amazing quiet strength, wisdom, and inspiration. You always make me feel so loved. I think about you every day and love you very much.
Floyd Wickman, my dad and my life mentor. This book would not exist without you. You are the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. You have taught me most of what I know about communicating with people, be it one or one thousand. You exemplify every principle in this book.
Neil Pardun, my father-in-law, for teaching me that it is possible to possess wealth and remain humble. You’ve helped me keep my feet on the ground all these years. You are a rare and special person. I am forever changed through your example.
Ed Escobar, my first business partner, for pushing hard and finally convincing my dad to let me into his company. Thanks for being so tough on me in my twenties. I now see how that transformed me. I am on this path because of your belief in me.
Mike Pallin, whom I truly believe is my guardian angel. You always place in front of me exactly what I need at that point in my life. You single handedly altered the course of my life three separate times.
Karen Grooms, the world’s greatest business manager. Thanks for holding all of the pieces together and protecting me from distractions for twenty-five years.
Curt Rager and Bob Shenefelt, for being amazing sounding boards and for constantly challenging me. Our annual trip to the mountains gives me tremendous clarity. You are lifers.
Don Tinney, the best business partner a guy could have. Thanks for fighting the good fight with me for fifteen years. We built something great together.
Sam Cupp, my business mentor, for teaching me most of what I know about business. I could not have pulled off that turnaround without your guidance. I hope I have done you proud with this book. I miss you greatly since your untimely passing.
Michael Gerber, it was your work that inspired me the earliest and the most. You are the original entrepreneur thought leader.
Dan Sullivan, for helping me discover my Unique Ability® and showing me how to build a life around it. You have made a great impact on my life. You are truly the coach of all coaches.
Verne Harnish, for being a pioneer and showing me that there is a place out there for my craft. Thank you for your passion and the impact you have had on the entrepreneurial world.
Mr. Sarkisian, Mr. Long, and the late Larry LaFever, for looking at me and treating me as the person I would become when I was a teenager. You gave me confidence, and for that I am forever grateful.
Mike Paton and Kelly Knight, for succeeding Don and I in EOS Worldwide, and allowing us to pursue our next passions.
My support team, Lisa Pisano and Kristen Froehlich, for keeping everything running like a Swiss watch.
All of the people in my EOS world, the EOS Worldwide leadership team, and all of my EOS clients. Thanks for twenty amazing years.
Interviewees, contributors, and test readers, thank you for your insight. You are forever a part of this book: Zach Albertson, David Allen, Scott Bade, Steve Barone, Thom Barry, Mackinley Bassett, Chris Bean, Anthony Benton, Joseph Benton, Ron Blank, Ted Bradshaw, Amy Bruske, Alex Burkulas, Ian Burnstein, Steven Carse, Darton Case, Jacob Cini, Ashley Clegg, Kaitlyn Cole, Nahshon Cook-Nelson, Paul Corpus, Teá Cushman, Mark D’Andreta, Ellyn Davidson, Logan Dube, Rob Dube, Craig Erlich, Jonah Erlich, Eric Ersher, Doug Etkin, Jay Feldman, Darren Findling, Ryan Findling, Kristen Froehlich, Nancy Geenen, Gary Goerke, Karen Grooms, Doug Hamburger, Joe Haney, Dan Haynes, Gretchen Hopp Doyle, Dan Israel, Kelly Knight, Kevin Kononenko, Jeff Laethem, Drew Levine, Aleana Loyd, Francy Lucido, Jared Lujan, Nancy Lyons, Joe Mackey, Anthony Marini, Kris Marshall, Keith Meadows, Michael Nehra, Ethan Neuhoff, Mike Oppedahl, Necole Parker-Green, Joel Pearlman, Lisa Pisano, Eddie Pobur Jr., Curtis Rager, Gary Ran, Matt Rossetti, Chad Rubner, Shayla Rucker, Joe Saad, Todd Sachse, Marc Schechter, Charlie Sheridan, Nicholas Sheridan, Sam Simon, Richard Simtob, Jada Skalak, Marisa Smith, Jesmarie Soto, Shawn Stafford, Dominick Stanca, Max Steir, Dan Sullivan, Shelly Sun, Rob Tamblyn, Pat Tierney, Trevor Tierney, Ninad Tipnis, Jimmy Tocco, Mike Uckele, Clay Upton, Bob Verdun, George Victor, Isabella Villanueva, Zac Voss, Zach Wardlaw, Terrell White, Jay Wilkinson, Jason Williford, Jackie Wilson, and Stu Wolff.
My publisher, Glenn Yeffeth, and the team at BenBella Books; my editor, John Paine of John Paine Editorial Services; my illustrator, Drew Robinson of Spork Design Inc.; JT McCormick and the team at Scribe Media for help with the manuscript; and my fact checker, Veronica Maddocks.