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content was derived from my most popular program, The Power of Understanding People. I was anxious about how the material would translate. Would my humor work for this audience? Scientists, multicultural visitors, potential language barriers – these are the things that keep training professionals up at night.

      As the crowd began to assemble, I tried to mitigate my nervousness by mingling with the attendees. Perhaps some schmoozing of the crowd would allay my fears, I thought. It didn't. Despite my attempts to learn a few words in Italian, I quickly felt awkward during most interactions. Beyond the language challenges, I was certain that this group of analytical, detailed, and fact‐based professionals had little interest in something so conceptual as consultative selling. It was not like I hadn't worked with pharmaceutical companies before; I had, many times. But it was almost always with sales professionals. This was a different demographic. In my nomenclature, these were Experts – a way of thinking that is based on pragmatic best practices gathered from personal experience. Things that you can know to be true. “What on earth would a scientist care about this topic?” I thought to myself. It is entirely theoretical.

It was also not like I hadn't experienced this kind of crowd before. In my seminars, I often share the story of presenting to chemical engineers in Lake Jackson, Texas – a memory that has traumatized me for 20 years. Essentially, it was three hours of me feverishly attempting to elicit some type of reaction from 35 stoic audience members, only to ultimately fail. It still haunts me, even though my client tells me that the attendees that day still talk about that seminar. “Me, too,” I reply.

      On stage in Verona, my host introduced me with the bio that I had provided. Two years later, The Power of Understanding People would be released as a critically acclaimed book, but I remember wishing for that kind of credibility in that moment. As I made my way to the stage, my mind raced with toxic thoughts. I like to start strong with some mildly self‐deprecating humor, but I worried that it would be lost in translation. How would I react to a crowd that didn't laugh? Would I again escalate my energy to manic levels? I began reliving the mistakes of Lake Jackson, Texas. Oh, and did I mention that this was the first event of a week‐long schedule of seminars? Imagine the emotional pain involved if I discovered in this first session that I was out of my element—for me and the crowd.

      The first surprise struck me more as a sense of relief than insight. They laughed. They were engaged. It was the first clue to the larger reveal that was to come when they completed the interactive‐style assessment about 45 minutes later. For the time being, I just felt the reassurance that this was going to go well and that all my fears had been for naught. While that was personally satisfying, the big revelation arrived when I asked the group to stand as I polled their interactive style results.

      Readers of my last two books, The Power of Understanding People and The Power of Understanding Yourself, know that I discuss four iconic ways of communicating:

       The Expert: Detailed, fact‐based, thorough

       The Romantic: Emotional, tactful, diplomatic

       The Mastermind: Conceptual, systemic, unpredictable

       The Warrior: Logical, direct, results oriented

I fully expected most of the room to rise when I introduced the Expert style. In fact, only a handful of attendees stood. Same for the Warrior and Mastermind styles. More than 75% of the room would score as a Romantic.

      “What? How can this be?” I thought to myself. How is it that these incredibly knowledgeable chemists, technicians, and researchers would be so emotionally sensitive? It had not occurred to me that these professionals were not merely drawn to the science of health care, but also to the service of others.

      It was at this moment that I knew that the organization had a core ideology that could differentiate it from its competitors. This corporate culture was unique, possessing not just the technical expertise to enhance the work of those clients whom they supported, but also a passion for helping others. We already knew they had a head for science, but we discovered that day that they also had a heart for service.

      And so it was that the company's core ideology was discovered. “Heads for Science, Hearts for Service” became their brand – the basis for horizontal and vertical alignment. The entire organization – with locations in England, Scotland, Italy, and the United States – began the process of implementing an operational and marketing strategy around this ideology. And it all started with the realization that they had something special in their culture. Something that would resonate with the marketplace and produce successful fiscal results. It was just a starting point toward peak performance, but a necessary one.

      This book is about just that: recognizing and leveraging your organization's “special sauce.” It is about creating an infrastructure that maximizes the strength of the institution, both employee facing and customer facing. It is about separating your operation from those of your competitors. It is about building an organization of peak performance, much like you would build a house: with a foundation, framework, and power sources to create something special for its inhabitants.

There is a lot of information in this book. One of my favorite attendees and loyal readers messaged me after my last book saying, “I am enjoying your new book, but it is much denser than your previous book. There is a lot to consider.” This book increases that density. In a way, it completes the trinity of my work involving of cognitive and organizational psychology spanning nearly a decade, a trifecta including understanding yourself, others, and the organization. We are going on a journey to every corner of the organization, from the proverbial 40,000‐foot view to the minutiae of policies. There are ideas, strategies, tactics, best practices, assessments, checklists, and examples to illustrate the full range of organizational development considerations – all designed to assist the reader in building a higher‐performing institution.

      This book is about peak performance culture. It is about operational excellence. It is about finding and delivering – every single time, every single day – your own secret sauce.

Acknowledgments

      This book is the product of interactions with countless leaders, specifiers, influencers, and team members of thousands of organizations with whom I am proud to have worked. Since founding the Leadership Difference, Inc. it has been my great fortune to travel the world – not just to educate, but more importantly to be educated. Thank you, all of you who have made the last 25 years so amazing.

      As I am writing this book, the world is experiencing a generational event – the COVID‐19 pandemic. Great organizations will lead us out of this challenge and into a period of new progress, prosperity, and innovation, largely due to their own operational excellence and peak performance cultures. I look forward to watching it happen. We will persevere and transcend.

For the last 35 years, my lovely bride, Lori, is my reason for being. It bears repeating (as I mentioned in my previous book) that you never stop astounding me as a person, a spouse, a mother, and a friend. I love you more than I thought it possible to love. We quarantined together during the pandemic and didn't really notice anything different in our behaviors. Turns out, we have been self‐isolating with each other all along.

      All my love to my daughter, Brooke; my son, Slade; my sister, Diana; Debby, Nancy, Russ, Tom, and Peggy.

      A shout out to the best editors a writer could have, Vicki Adang and Christine Moore.

      Those who know me best know that I have a special affinity for my dogs. Since my last book, we adopted Mingus. He is 130 pounds of Irish wolfhound and border collie. He taught me that small, smart dogs are good; big, dumb dogs are good; but big, smart dogs are a problem. We have locked our cabinets and refrigerator; duct taped our sectional, and reinforced all fences. And when I would get frustrated with the world, it was Mingus who would drop a ball at my feet and run in the direction he wanted it thrown. It was his reminder to me that when things get tough, grab the ball and start running with a purpose.

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