Gary Cook is managing director of Cook & Company, and the author of the book Consilience Leadership: Using Innovative Ideas from Economics, Science, and Neuropsychology to Create Breakthroughs in Leading Organizations. He has been a member of over 30 for-profit, nonprofit, NGO, and governmental boards and commissions. His consulting practice focuses on board and organizational governance and effectiveness as well as executive coaching. He can be contacted at gcook@cookcompany.com.

Mark H. Livingston is a partner in the Houston office of Heidrick & Struggles. He is the global managing partner of the Natural Resources sector within the Industrial Practice and a member of the CEO and Board, Private Equity and Financial Officers Practices. Livingston focuses on board, CEO, and CFO search assignments in the energy industry, serving clients in oil and gas, oil field services, utility, power equipment, chemicals, and alternative/renewable energy sectors.

Rebecca Foreman Janjic is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Menlo Park office and conducts searches on a worldwide basis for the firm's Global Technology Practice. Her search practice focuses on recruitment of VP and C-level executives within software, Internet, and technology services companies. She leads the firm’s Venture Capital Practice and co-leads the firm's Big Data & Analytics Practice.

The authors can be contacted at mlivingston@heidrick.com and rfjanjic@heidrick.com.

Debbie Womack and Jim Taylor are principals of Greater Yield Ltd., a consulting firm that works with boards and senior management on performance improvement and organizational transformation (www.greateryield.com). The authors can be contacted at dwomack@greateryield.com and jtaylor@greateryield.com.

Nate Bennett (left) is a professor in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, where his research interests include leadership selection and development, top management team effectiveness, and leadership transitions (www.nate-bennett.com). He also serves as an executive coach. He co-authored Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO (Stanford University Press, 2006). Walter Shill is the chief executive officer of Environmental Resource Management, a global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, and social consulting services (www.erm.com).

The authors can be contacted at nate@gsu.edu and walt.shill@erm.com.

Dennis Cagan is a high-technology industry veteran and entrepreneur, having founded or co-founded over a dozen companies. He is a seasoned CEO/chairman and has been a C-level executive in both public and private companies, a venture capitalist, private investor, consultant, and professional board member for over 40 years. He has served on 51 corporate boards, both private and public, predominately of early and mid-stage technology companies. He resides in Carrollton, Texas, and is currently serving on several boards and consults on forming boards. He is completing a book, The Board of Directors for a Private Enterprise.

The author can be contacted at dennis@caganco.com.

Harry J. Bruce was the retired chairman, president and CEO of the Illinois Central Railroad and a long-serving corporate director when he wrote a cover story for Directors & Boards in 1997 titled “Duty, Honor, Company.” This is an excerpt from his article.

Dr. Dee Soder is the founder and managing partner of The CEO Perspective Group (www.ceo
perspective.com). She advises top management and boards on a wide range of issues, and her work includes highly sensitive executive and director assessments and coaching. She has advised a number of the executives selected in the Directors & Boards series of “Directors to Watch” and has written several articles for the journal over the years. She can be contacted at dee@ceoperspective.com

Blythe McGarvie joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 2012 as a senior lecturer of business administration. She had been chief executive officer of LIF Group, a firm that provided strategic and financial counsel to help clients achieve economic objectives and enhance their corporate governance. Prior to founding the firm in 2003 she was based in Paris as the executive vice president and CFO of BIC Group. She is a director of Accenture Ltd., LKQ Corp., Sonoco Products Co., Viacom Inc., and Wawa Inc. and formerly served on the boards of Lafarge NA, Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., and Travelers Companies Inc. She is the author of Shaking the Globe: Courageous Decision-Making in a Changing World (Wiley, 2009). She can be contacted at bmcgarvie@hbs.edu.

Betsy Atkins is CEO of Bajacorp, an early stage venture capital firm she founded in 1993, and is a long-serving corporate director. She can be contacted at betsy@bajacorp.com.