Jane’s work life has been shaped by three significant experiences having to do with leadership and collaboration: watching her father struggle in his career, serving in the British army, and working with The Ken Blanchard Companies.

As a teenager, Jane watched her father, Bill, struggle as a...

Jane’s work life has been shaped by three significant experiences having to do with leadership and collaboration: watching her father struggle in his career, serving in the British army, and working with The Ken Blanchard Companies.

As a teenager, Jane watched her father, Bill, struggle as a union worker in the hostile environment of the UK motor industry of the 1970s. Strike after long strike defined her father’s pattern of work. Bill always felt that collaboration would be a better way forward and was frustrated that neither side could see they needed each other.

In the 1980s, Jane joined the British army as an officer in the Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC). During her six-year tenure, she found important agreement among the ranks: the army understood the value of collaboration. In fact, after leaving the army, Jane did not experience this higher level of collaboration again until she joined The Ken Blanchard Companies in 2006.

In 2012, Jane chose the topic of collaboration for her dissertation toward an M.S. in business psychology. Her research led to the writing of this book.

Jane is cofounder of Wired Leaders (www.wiredleaders .com), a leadership development company that focuses on collaboration.