It is widely held that most books began life as a series of articles the writer wrote to support his or her thesis and reach their audience.  Sometimes the author writes articles specifically to become the spine of a book.

My book began differently. As President and COO at Quintiles Transnational Corp.  I was looking for a personal way to communicate, uplift, inspire and include in our workplace in what I was thinking about and feeling. So I began simply to write my co-workers letters. I had no idea how powerful and transformational a personal letter for me would become for many, many people.

I write as I speak, one to one, real, heartfelt responses and reactions to the same things my reader’s were responding to in their lives. What these letters created that I did not imagine was a community. A community who discussed things in heartfelt ways together, who responded to each other more compellingly, who cared to present themselves each day to each other as their very best…in my years at Quintiles it made them for me and for the friends I made with my letters the best we could be.