Jane Stevenson - Breaking Away: How Great Leaders Create Innovation that Drives Sustainable Growth--and Why Others Fail

HOW GREAT LEADERS CREATE INNOVATION THAT DRIVES SUSTAINABLE GROWTHAND WHY OTHERS FAIL

JANE STEVENSON
BILAL KAAFARANI

Copyright 2011 by Jane Stevenson and Bilal Kaafarani. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-176164-2

MHID: 0-07-176164-0

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We dedicate this book to:

The glory of Almighty God, our Creator and the Ultimate Leader of all innovation.

To our families, whose constant love, belief, support, and understanding made it possible to write this book.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our awesome spouses, Janice and Alan, and to our wonderful children: Steven, Brian, Kristina, and Danielle; Jonathan and Emily. May the CEOs you work for be leaders of innovation, growth, and possibility. And to our parents, Moussa and Jouheida Kaafarani, and John and Nancy Edison, with much love.

PART 1
THE INNOVATION EQUATION

A Rose by Any Other Name

Let There Be Light

Tea Leaf Time

The Sweet Spot

PART 2
THE LEADERSHIP EQUATION

The Buck Starts Here

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

The Right Stuff

PART 3
THE PAYOFF: ACTIVATING GROWTH

One for All and All for One

Heads, You Win

Ready, Set, Go

If it takes a village to raise a child, what does it take to raise a book? In our case, it took a Diana. While we developed the concepts, research, case studies, and ideas, Diana LaSalle gave them wings to fly. Diana, you have a special gift for taking even the most complex concepts and conveying them in a simple, yet intriguing way. Your belief in this project was unflagging, your commitment was passionate, and your support was a constant encouragement. We thank you for believing this book was special enough to set aside, at least briefly, your own identity as the bestselling coauthor of Priceless: Turning Ordinary Products into Extraordinary Experiences to collaborate and write with us. You were our partner in every respect. We thank you, Diana, for being the wind beneath our wings!

Jeffrey Smith, where do we begin? Without you, this book would never have happened. You were there from day one, and you never left our side for a moment. You were a friend, a counselor, a coach, a mentor, a brother, sometimes a handful, and always an inspiration. Thank you for making yourself endlessly available, no matter when we called you. From lending us your conference room for quiet space to helping us connect concepts to the right people and places to negotiating the contracts, you were an unbelievable support. Wherever we are, you are always with us. Thanks, Jeffrey, for believing in us. You are an amazing man!

Barbara Shear, you made it feel so easy to connect our ideas with a marketing plan. The doors open wide for you, and we had the privilege to share our ideas with some of the top publications in the world because of your credibility and leadership. Thanks so much for believing in us enough to volunteer your time and talent to Breaking Away. You are a dear friend!

Amy Rennert, from the first dinner we had together, you recognized that the concept for this project was special. The discussion and the interaction we had with you put us on the right road for the journey this book took. Thanks for patiently laboring with us to distill its message. You got us access to the best in the business. We appreciate your dedication and commitment!

Thank you, Jenny Williams, Pauline Williams, Michele Mullen-Hampton, and Kandi Thomas. You kept us on track, got us to the right cities, and constantly encouraged us. How lucky we are to have such great support from our teams! Special thanks to Jenny for the graphics and to Pauline for handling the endless release process.

Shereen Khundmiri, your talents took a fledging idea and turned it into a first-class website. We were so blessed to have you on our team. You brought first The Winning Jaguar and then Breaking Away to life and taught us so much. You are a joy to be around and top talent to boot. Thanks so much!

Emily, your willingness to draw the trademark for The Winning Jaguar, LLC, was a priceless gift. You are a real talent, honey, so special, smart, and beautiful!