ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Venturing further into life, there is a commensurate awareness of how deeply others have formed, shaped, and inspired me. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by so many passionate, brilliant, and knowledgeable people. It is a privilege to pause now to express my deep appreciation.

To my colleagues at Korn Ferry, I want to express my most heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to collaborate and innovate with so many of you. The depth and diversity of your knowledge is mind-boggling and heart-inspiring.

First, I want to thank current and past Korn Ferry Minneapolis colleagues. We have grown from a small group to one of the biggest concentrations of talent consultants anywhere, as the PDI Ninth House, Lominger, and LeaderSource’s offices came together in Minneapolis. Deepest thanks to Janet Feldman, Dee Gaeddert, Sidney Reisberg, Bill McCarthy, Bob Eichinger, Karin Lucas, Dina Rauker, Anne Tessien, John Pike, Craig Sneltjes, Chuck Feltz, Terry Enlow, Stu Crandell, RJ Heckman, Lee Artimovich, Kraig King, Barb Lubinski, Susan Brock, Jeff Schwartz, Dave Pearce, Tracy Kurschner, Marlys Aukee, Patrick Walsh, Lisa Peterson, Sara Larson, Cathy Winter, Anna Waters, Ken De Meuse, George Hallenbeck, Renée Garpestad, Pat Mulvehill, Katie Cooney, David Brings, Doug Menikheim, Joe Eastman, Jim Lewis, Paul Cimmerer, and so many others for being such extraordinary consulting colleagues over the years. So many Minneapolis people have supported the production of each edition of this book over the years, but special thanks to Shelley Lent, Angie Keranen, Matt Bertram, Faye Way, Sherri Rogalski, Kate Smith, Karissa Ernst, Joan Davis, Barbara Nelson, Sandee Johnson, Kari Block, and Sue Puncochar. As you all know, without your organizing genius, I would be lost!

Thanking all my colleagues outside of Minneapolis is a challenge. There is only one place to begin my gratitude: Gary Burnison. Your vision for Korn Ferry has been unwavering, and I am so grateful you invited me to play a role in this amazing growth journey. Thanks to all my current and former global colleagues: Lewis Rusen, Jane Stevenson, Stephen Kaye, Mark Arian, Ron Johnson, Mike Distefano, Jonathan Dahl, Linda Hyman, Bernard Zen-Ruffinen, Jean-Marc Laouchez, Doug Charles, David Wise, Christoph la Garde, James Ringer, Becky Sanderson, David Dotlich, Andrés Tapia, Anthony Lo Pinto, Brigitte Morel-Curran, Jamen Graves, Naomi Sutherland, Bob Mintz, Bill Westwod, David Lange, Evelyn Orr, Ilene Gochman, Mike Hyter, Scott Kingdom, Mark Pierce, Sergio Averbach, Arvi Dhesi, Jim Peters, Tierney Remick, Richard Emerton, Catherine McCarthy, Jack MacPhail, Addy Chulef, Don Spetner, Terry Bacon, and Ken Brousseau. Special thanks to Rick Lash for his expertise and wisdom regarding legacy Hay Group research. Thanks to all 7,000 of my Korn Ferry colleagues for your inspiration and leadership.

Deep thanks to the thousands of clients I have been privileged to serve over the past thirty years. I wish I could name all of you, but that would fill another book. Working with you has inspired me to share many of your transformative journeys. I hope that I have represented you well. I am so grateful for your generosity, trust, gratitude, and energetic enthusiasm. Your character-rich stories continually move me and sustain me.

Heartfelt thanks to the late Warren Bennis, whom I consider the “godfather of leadership development,” a model of the personal and leadership presence I can only aspire to attain. I want to acknowledge the prodigious, influential work of: Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, for your breakthrough work on authenticity and Level 5 leaders; Daniel Goleman, for bringing your body of work on emotional intelligence, focus, and consciousness to the world’s attention; Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, authors of Extraordinary Leader, for your extensive research contributions; Peter Senge, author of the classic The Fifth Discipline, for your foundational, innovative thought leadership on the organization as a learning system; Robert Hargrove, author of Masterful Coaching, for your meaningful contribution in the field of coaching; Bob Eichinger and Michael Lombardo, for your breakthrough thinking on competencies and leadership and for your best-selling book, The Leadership Machine; and to all the Hay Group colleagues for being pioneers in motives, assessment, engagement, reward, leadership styles, and culture.

I’d especially like to thank the late David McClelland for his trailblazing thought leadership on human motivation and for his amazing book, The Achieving Society. Gratitude also to: Lowell Hellervik, Stu Crandell, and RJ Heckman, for your precise research and practice in leadership assessment; and to Richard Leider, for his extraordinary work on purpose and transition, and particularly for his book, The Power of Purpose. All of you truly are authentic leaders whose influence and value creation has been felt around the world.

Thanks to the 100+ CEOs and other executives who took the time to share your thoughts, stories, and life experiences over the years and across three editions. Our exchanges have been enlightening and provocative. Special thanks to Paul Walsh, Ken Melrose, Daniel Vasella, Thomas Ebeling, Joerg Reinhardt, Brian McNamara, Stuart Parker, Richard Nolan, Brad Hewitt, Bruce Nicholson, Alex Gorsky, Bill George, Jeff George, Marijn Dekkers, David MacLennan, Paul Van Oyen, Werner Bauman, Andreas Guenther, Andreas Fibig, Patrick Thomas, David Meek, Kurt Graves, Ludwig Hantson, Anne-Marie Law, Paul Laudicina, Steve Reinemund, Jack Stahl, Dona Young, Laura Karet, Brian Cornell, Stephanie Lundquist, David Epstein, Deborah Dunsire, Steven Baert, Mike Ball, Merrick McCracken, Jurgen Brokatsky-Geiger, Chris Howarth, Diana Pierce, Corey Seitz, Mike Moshier, Joanne Chang, Vikramaditya Bajpai, Rahul Sharma, Roger Lacey, David Wessner, Joe Cavanaugh, Mike Peel, Kevin Wilde, Marc Belton, Gus Blanchard, Larry Perlman, Jim Secord, Ron James, David Prosser, John Hetterick, Al Schuman, Bob Kidder, Rob Hawthorne, Mike Paxton, John Sundet, Tom Gegax, and many others.

Thanks to Ken Shelton, Trent Price, Robert Chapman, and the entire Executive Excellence team for publishing the original edition. Your guidance, persistence, and confidence were crucial to this book when, more than twenty years ago, others found it “too cutting edge.” Thanks for partnering with me.

Thanks to everyone at Berrett-Koehler Publishers—Steve Piersanti, Jeevan Simvasubramaniam, Johanna Vondeling, Neal Maillet, David Marshall, Kristen Franz, Katie Sheehan, Michael Crowley, Maria Jesús Aguilo, Lassel Whipple, Courtney Schonfeld, Liz McKellar, Shabnam Banerjee-McFarland, and many others on your purpose-driven, hard-working team, especially Linda Jupiter, our production manager, and Peter Berry, our exceptional copyeditor. I am proud to be a part of the Berrett-Koehler community. You distinguish yourself not only by the authors and books you choose to publish but also by your courage, character, mission, commitment, and practices to live consciously and authentically, according to the ideas that you put out into the world. You are truly authentic leaders, breathing life into your purpose and creating enduring value. I appreciate your professionalism, your genuine ardor for my work, and the endless good humor with which you do yours.

Thanks to Margie Adler for editing and research help on all three editions. We had a great time working on the first one, but these last two editions would not have happened without you. I am grateful for your authentic passion and commitment to the principles in these pages and for your clarity, purpose-driven persistence, calmness, endurance, and brilliance. I could not have had a better writing partner for this project. Endless thanks!

Thanks to Peggy Lauritsen and her design team for the original cover and text design. For your excellent public relations efforts on the original, thanks to Fred and Sarah Bell Haberman; your excitement and belief in this book always lifted me up. Thanks to Kohnstamm Communications and to our current public relations team, Cave Henricks for your vision, creativity, passion, commitment, and professionalism. Big thanks go to Korn Ferry’s marketing and communications team, in particular Jonathan Dahl, Mike Distefano, Tracy Kurschner, Dan Gugler, Derek Fromson, and Russel Pearlman. Your creativity and support are greatly appreciated.

Thanks to writer-author Jack Forem, for your encouragement and friendship. It was your confidence from the moment you told me that I was a “really good writer” that sustained me through a couple of years of drafts. Special thanks to book agent Bob Silverstein, for rejecting my initial manuscript twenty-two years ago and then sharing with me that I needed to “find my voice.” Although I was devastated at first, it was the best feedback I received; it literally transformed my entire approach to writing.

My love and gratitude to Soraya, my wife, who prepares multiple places at home for me to write, because I like to shift spontaneously from office to meditation room to fireplace, or from kitchen table to dining room, as energy moves me. From a family of artists, and a wise psycho-spiritual-healer and artist in her own right, Soraya knows the value of fostering the creative process. The quiet, nurturing space you created often was a great challenge for you, but it was so appreciated by me. Thank you for your help and for your love. Heartfelt thanks to Tahiel, my son, best buddy, my close friend and fellow spiritual traveler. You are an amazing and creative person, truly wise beyond your years, and often my very insightful life coach.

It is impossible to put into words my gratitude for the teacher who most influenced my heart, mind, and soul—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In the last few days of my finishing the second edition of this book, this great sage and world teacher left his body. I must acknowledge that there would be no Leadership from the Inside Out without Maharishi’s inner and outer guidance. His wisdom and practice completely transformed my life. The last time I sat with him, he said, “Bring peace and happiness to the world.” I hope I have been a worthy student. Another world teacher I want to thank is Chunyi Lin, founder of Spring Forest Qigong and author of Born a Healer. Your wisdom, inspiration, and friendship have been a living model of inside out transformation.

My most important thanks go to you, the reader. I wrote this book for you—leaders, who are learners, willing to take the courageous steps to personal transformation. Thanks for the privilege of taking this sacred growth journey together.