Page 262 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Acknowledgments

The creation of this book required the help of many people. As such, we
owe a collective debt of gratitude to a wide range of friends, colleagues, and
generous practitioners who shared their wisdom, helped us get smarter
about leadership, and supported us through the journey from rough out-
line to final production.
The Leader’s Handbook project began with a brainstorming session be-
tween the two of us and our HBR editor, Ania Wieckowski. As the concept
developed, Ania went on to become not just an editor, but a true partner.
She tirelessly and collaboratively kept us on track through many months,
while also diligently challenging us to keep improving the presentation of
our ideas. Several of Ania’s HBR colleagues also contributed by sharing
their perspectives about key trends and enduring tenets of management, as
regularly published in the magazine and on the HBR website. Thanks also
to Jane Gebhart, whose careful work as our copy editor ensured a higher
standard of consistency and quality in the pages that follow, and to Anne
Starr, our production editor, who shepherded the manuscript through to
completion.
We also want to express our appreciation to several dozen practicing
leaders, both entrepreneurs and more established executives, who shared
their leadership experiences and insights with us through interviews over
the last eighteen months (we list them at the end of this section). Our con-
versations with these practitioners sharpened our understanding of real-
world organizational challenges and enriched our ability to discuss the
fundamentals of leadership on which this book has been based. Several of
their stories and verbatim reflections appear throughout the chapters, but