Kerry Patterson

Kerry Patterson is a prolific writer who has coauthored numerous articles and award-winning training programs. Kerry taught at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management and then cofounded Interact Performance Systems, where he worked for ten years as vice president of research and development. Kerry is a founder of VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and leadership development. He is the author of four New York Times bestselling business books: Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, and Influencer. He's also the author of The Gray Fedora, a compilation of stories from Kerry's own life experiences. Kerry has completed doctoral work at Stanford University. He is a recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award and the 2004 William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award from Brigham Young University.

ABOUT VITALSMARTS:

An innovator in corporate training and leadership development, VitalSmarts combines three decades of original research with 50 years of the best social science thinking to help leaders and organizations achieve new levels of performance. Specifically, we focus on human behavior -- the underlying written and unwritten rules that shape what employees do every day and create the cultural operating system upon which an organization functions. Our work within the halls of some of the world's top organizations has led us to identify four skill sets present in successful companies. When used in combination, these high-leverage skills create healthy corporate cultures that spur flawless execution and consistent innovation. These skill sets are taught in our award-winning training programs and New York Times bestselling books of the same titles: Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Influencer, and Change Anything.

VitalSmarts has trained more than one million people worldwide and helped more than 300 of the Fortune 500 realize significant results using this proven method for driving rapid, sustainable and measurable change in behaviors. VitalSmarts has been ranked by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in America for eight consecutive years. www.vitalsmarts.com

OTHER VITALSMARTS AUTHORS:

Joseph Grenny is an acclaimed keynote speaker and consultant who has designed and implemented major corporate change initiatives for the past 20 years. He is also a cofounder of Unitus, a nonprofit organization that helps the world's poor achieve economic self-reliance.

David Maxfield is a leading researcher and frequent conference speaker on topics ranging from dialogue skills to performance improvement. He did doctoral work in psychology at Stanford University, where he studied personality theory and interpersonal-skill development.

Ron McMillan is a sought-after speaker and consultant. He cofounded the Covey Leadership Center, where he served as vice president of research and development. He has worked with leaders ranging from first-level managers to corporate executives on topics such as leadership and team development.

Al Switzler is a renowned consultant and speaker who has directed training and management initiatives with dozens of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. He is on the faculty of the Executive Development Center at the University of Michigan.