The Power of Choice. Michael C. Hyter

Чтение книги онлайн.

Acknowledgments

      WHO COULD HAVE known that an idea for improving academic achievement and a commitment to making a difference would turn into a practice that has positively impacted thousands of professionals and students for more than a generation? In the early 1970s, Dr. Jeff Howard had the insight and courage to create a development experience for Black students at Harvard University to address the educational disparities between Black students and white students. Dr. Howard called his approach “Efficacy.” Dr. Howard's success at Harvard ultimately led to the founding of J. Howard and Associates, which enabled professionals in hundreds of companies to experience those same ideas and approaches that had significantly improved the performance of students at Harvard. I have Dr. Howard to thank for birthing the movement, laying the foundation, and bringing together talented professionals to make this powerful approach to driving development a reality. If it weren't for his leadership, many of the key ideas in this book would not exist.

I also want to express my appreciation to Marc Wallace, Audra Bohannon, and Verna Ford for making these important principles come to life for so many companies and individuals. Marc, Audra, and Verna were among the first thought‐leaders at J. Howard and Associates, and we still hear from past participants about how significant and beneficial the experience was for their careers. Over the years, Marc, Audra, and Verna, along with all our facilitators, have continued to expand the ideas of Efficacy and their application. For instance, Verna added the concept of the three types of confidence—technical, influential, and relational—that has profoundly shaped how we talk about the skills that are important to navigating a career. Audra has helped evolve our understanding of the power of making conscious choices.

      Writing a book that captures the strategies and impact of this powerful approach to development isn't an easy task. I could not have done this alone. Many of my colleagues—Kameelah Benjamin‐Fuller, Jan Clarkson, Jorge Farias, Diane Johnson, Luisa Kurtz, Kristine Perez‐Foley, and Barbara Smith—gave their support by reading the first version of this manuscript and providing feedback along the way. Kameelah also conducted some of the interviews, and Jan did an outstanding job of pulling that information into the real‐world examples in the final section of the book. Barbara helped me craft the guidelines for putting Efficacy principles into action that appear at the end of each chapter. When it was time to update the book, JT Saunders and Anna Isabelle Vivas navigated us through the twists and turns of making revisions—no easy task in the midst of our busy and rewarding client service activities.

      I also had the support of many folks outside Korn Ferry. They contributed by recounting their stories—both their successes and tough lessons. They reviewed manuscript drafts and helped me bring the Power of Choice alive. To protect their confidentiality, I'm not going to list their names here, but I hope you know who you are and what a difference you made.

      Of course, I thank my wife, Tisha, for all of her patience and support during this project (and the three years of planning). I will be forever grateful.

Finally, every project like this one requires an anchor who brings it all together. Kathy Lenox was my right hand throughout this process. Kathy has been a longtime contributor to our company and a strong partner of mine on many projects over the years. Our mutual passion and commitment to this body of work is strong and very much aligned. Her support in helping me with the writing and editing, managing the process with all of its moving parts, and keeping me on schedule has made all the difference. I can't really express in words how much her partnership has meant to me, but I'm happy to say that we got this done and it's all good! Thank you, Kathy.