So many people have contributed to my journey, in myriad ways. As the work from my first book, The Power of TED*, with its message of “self-leadership,” matured and morphed into a larger expression touching on all areas of life, I have returned to my roots of organizational leadership development. The 3 Vital Questions (aka 3VQ) offer a taste of the wisdom I have been blessed to gain from others along my way, spiced with some personal epiphanies.
No one has influenced my thinking, way of being in the world, and professional expression more than my longtime friend Bob Anderson, founder of The Leadership Circle and co-author of Mastering Leadership. Thank you for introducing me to the Problem and Outcome Orientations and for encouraging me to find my own voice and my own ways of expressing them.
To my dear colleagues Bob A., Jim Anderson, Dan Holden, and Barbara Braham, PhD, and to the circle of professional friends who have gathered around tables at the University of Notre Dame while serving as coaches for the Executive Integral Leadership Program—a deep bow of gratitude for your love and support as I faced my own “dark nights” in the DDT and for always affirming the Creator essence we all share.
For many years, the frameworks in TED* (*The Empowerment Dynamic)® were introduced to organizational leaders through the early adopters at the Stagen Leadership Academy: Bert Parlee, Rand Stagen, Paul Landraitis, and Stagen Leadership’s many fine coaches and facilitators. The resounding enthusiasm of their clients—who called TED* the “stickiest” part of the powerful Stagen curriculum—provided a big dose of encouragement for me to write a book that both includes and transcends the TED* frameworks while illustrating their application in an organizational setting.
The very first TED* workshop was championed and coled by Molly Gordon, MCC and Bert Parlee, which led to the emergence of TED* Practitioners.
For ten years, our community of TED* (and now 3VQ) practitioners has cheered us on and taken this work on the road, providing generous feedback, creativity, and inspiring success stories. You all are truly exemplars of a community of practice.
Many thanks go to the first readers of the manuscript: Darryl Greene, Chris Nagel, Barry Rellaford, Tom Womeldorff, Leslye Wood, and McKenzie Zajonc. Your overwhelmingly positive early encouragement, as well as keen observations, contributed much to the final manuscript.
Once again, Ceci Miller has been this work’s champion, midwife, editor, publishing consultant, and manager extraordinaire. You and your marketing partner, Carlos Ferreyros, took to the vision of 3VQ from the very start and brought your talents and gifts—as well as encouragement and challenge—together with an incredible team of professionals to produce and promote this book dedicated to “transforming workplace drama.”
Thanks to copyeditor Kyra Freestar of Tandem Editing LLC, book designer Bob Lanphear (who has been a major partner in every one of our projects), and indexer Beth Nauman-Montana.
Debbie Hulbert, our director of communications and customer experience, has contributed so much over these ten-plus years, bringing talent, creativity, and a genuine love of TED* to the evolution of our websites, materials, e-course, and so much more.
And finally, this work would never have been born as TED* or matured into the 3 Vital Questions without the partnership of Donna Zajonc, MCC—my dear wife, workshop co-presenter, and director of coaching and practitioner services. You believed in me and this work even when I did not believe in myself. Your vision, passion, and drive has expanded our work into realms of service to individuals, teams, and organizations beyond what either of us could have imagined when we began our journey as husband and wife and Co-Creators. Donna, I love you with all my heart.