Acknowledgments

I owe special thanks to the leaders I’ve had the benefit of interviewing, who were gracious with their time and perspectives and from whom I learned so much. I also owe a special thanks to the people who read the manuscript in its various iterations. Among them, I include my friend and former colleague Sue Cantrell, who helped me clarify who I was writing for and why, and who worked with me on the research and cases described in this book. My thanks also to Lorraine Damerau for her dedication in helping me make sense of research data across the life cycle of an organization’s maturity as it scales.

My friends and colleagues Marty Goldberg, Chris Worley, Ghazala Ovaice, Carmen Mayali, Seema Patel, Stephen Brown, David Reimer, Joe Bonito, Ellen Van Oosten, Darren Good, and Jessica DiVento, along with the blind manuscript reviewers, were relentless in their challenge to make me go deeper in my introspection and make it relevant and practical to leaders and boards across multiple contexts, not just tech or private markets. Lesley Iura managed the publishing process with keen insight and unflappable grace through every step, and Lucy McCauley was tireless in her editorial efforts, taking my words in a near-final manuscript and turning them up a notch to make it readable and engaging, urging me to inject more examples and connect threads from one chapter to another.

This book is dedicated to the leaders who spurred me on my journey toward building better organizations. I am grateful to the late Arthur Freedman for his mentorship and guidance and for inspiring my passion for organization development as a graduate student at the American University and later in our joint work. I would also like to acknowledge Bob Thomas for his friendship, mentorship, and above all, his role-modeling as a scientist-practitioner. Thanks also to Ana Dutra, Roselinde Torres, Deb Brecher, David Smith, Yaarit Silverstone, Janice Simmons, Veronica Hopper Carter, John Carter, Johnnie Smith, Carl Jennings, Herb Stevenson . . . and to two future leaders who already inspire me to continue the work of building better organizations for an AI-first world, Sophie Jules and Ian Jules.

Thank you.