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Thanks to the great team at Dundurn Press, who led us through the process — specifically, Margaret Bryant for embracing the concept, Carrie Gleason for keeping us on track with our deadlines, Karen McMullin for her expert sales support, and Caitlyn Stewart for her assistance in early promotion of the material.

Our editor, Don Loney, provided incalculably valuable input on everything from consistency of voice to questioning the conclusions we’d arrived at. Don inspired us to be better authors.

Shane Potvin took our scattered design and turned the cover art into a piece of brilliance. Rob Cottingham lent his comedy brain for the opening chapter illustrations. And John Meadows braved cool temperatures to make us look good in photos he took outside of our hotel.

Martin Perelmuter and his amazing team at Speakers’ Spotlight believed in the project from day one and provided a great sounding board to help us glean what information business leaders could use in this kind of book. Special thanks to agent Dwight Ireland, whose initial germ of an idea led to this concept.

Thank you also to the long list of business leaders and experts we interviewed as part of our research. They shared their expertise and insights with us and we’re grateful for it.

Our friends (and business superstars in their own right) Mitch Joel, Scott Stratten, and Julien Smith all offered wise advice on the initial stages of finding the right publishing partner. They were also a great cheering section.

Tod’s Thanks

This whole project started when Mark and I realized, over lunch one day, that we were both separately working on roughly the same concept of this book. We joined forces and the result couldn’t have been better. Mark and his wife, Andrea, have been a great support, letting me bounce ridiculous ideas off their brains. Mark didn’t freak out when I (regularly) missed deadlines we both had agreed to. It’s wonderful to have a great coauthor; it’s even better to have that coauthor be a great friend.

My wife, Jocelyn, has been an enormous part of this project — helping research ideas, providing great input on structure, and just generally talking me down off the ledge when the stress of word counts and looming deadlines wreaked havoc on my brain. (A Post-it Note she left one morning on the printed draft manuscript reading “Work on me today! I want to grow up to be a real book one day!” was probably entirely responsible for two chapters getting done on time.)

My mom, herself a respected author, and my stepfather, Hans, both acted as quiet cheerleaders in the wings, pushing without pushing.

Special thanks needs to be paid to my assistant, Geneva Bokowski, who did much of the legwork in research, booking calls with business leaders, and coordinating the important publishing deadlines. Geneva is a force of nature and I’m lucky to have her on my team.

Martin Perelmuter and the whole team at Speakers’ Spotlight is amazing to work alongside of, and special thanks need to go to Cathy Hirst and Jackie Miller for their decades-long encouragement (brow-beating?) of me to write a book (usually phrased as “Hey — why haven’t you written that damned book yet?!”). I’m proud to have worked with both of them on the speaking circuit for more than fifteen years now and even prouder to call them friends.

Mark’s Thanks

I consider myself very lucky to be both a friend and collaborator of Tod’s. This book project has been fun and educational. Its origins, and many amazing friendships, can be traced back to a radio segment Tod did in March 2005. That’s a different story. This book was conceived over lunch with Tod and his (now) wife, Jocelyn. It’s a lunch I will always remember. Thank you both!

I can’t imagine accomplishing even half of the things I’ve set out to do without the support of my wife, Andrea. Andrea has always been a positive and practical supporter of all of my projects, no matter how crazy they are. She’s more than a partner to me. I can’t imagine life without her.

Just as Andrea has been a positive and practical supporter, our daughters, Lucy and Bayla, have been (and continue to be) amazingly patient with me. I always have a million things on the go. If it’s not work, it’s the book. If it’s not the book, it’s a research project. And so on. I’m grateful for them.

My aunt Myrna has been encouraging me to write a book for years. She’s been one of my life cheerleaders for as long as I can remember, including during this project.

My team at FullDuplex — Émilie, Victoria, and Heather — have all helped research aspects of this book. They’ve also brought levity to the office when I’ve needed it most.

My FH alumni network of Michael von Herff, Eric Lamoureux, Paul Monlezun, David Kaiser, Anne Lachance, John Sparks, and the Honourable Monte Solberg have all directly or indirectly had an impact on this book. It’s a privilege to work with them.

Thank you also to all of the media professionals and research collaborators who constantly test my knowledge and ideas with interesting questions.

I dedicate this book to my uncle and mentor, Ken Ain. Thank you for everything. I miss you.