For centuries, leaders have been operating within a “control and compete” mindset. But the times are changing. More and more, at the helm of successful companies, you’ll find a different sort of leader. Collaborators, not controllers, they are “square apples,” bold men and women who dare to create success by reshaping the workplace in unexpected ways. In Apples Are Square, innovation consultants and celebrated authors Dr. Susan Smith Kuczmarski and Thomas Kuczmarski share with you the secrets of how to become a square apple in your organization.

To develop their groundbreaking strategy for success, the authors interviewed 25 leadership pioneers from many different work settings - media, the arts, government, sports, education, and business, including Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist; Mary Ellen Weber, former NASA astronaut; and NFL star Chris Zorich, whose personal story inspired the title of this book. With the tools in Apples Are Square, you’ll be able to take any bruised environment and reshape it into a positive force.

In a time when the news is littered with stories of fallen leaders and the organizations they destroyed, Apples Are Square is a book that focuses on success.  It offers the ideas, experience, and values of people who are leading the way to a new definition of leadership in the early 21st Century.

Reshaping a bad apple is not easy, but in the end you will hold in your hand the fruits of a more dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative organization. It comes as no surprise then that the model for change that emerges is called “peopleship.” The “peopleship” approach cultivates multiple leaders in an organization. It strengthens individuals, enabling them to be recognized and valued. It connects employees and managers in building strong relationships.

Susan Smith Kuczmarski, Ed.D., and Thomas D. Kuczmarski are the authors of the pioneering book Values-Based Leadership. Susan has taught leadership skills to audiences ranging from youth organizations to the United Nations. Tom has taught innovation for 27 years at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Authors of seven books, their research, speeches, seminars, teaching, and pragmatic consulting have made them leading experts in the field of leadership. Collaborators in every sense, they are also the co-founders of Kuczmarski & Associates, a nationally recognized innovation management consulting firm.

"The book, Apples Are Square: Thinking Differently About Leadership, presents the model of leadership necessary to move from the information age to the knowledge-based and ultimately, to a wisdom-based culture. The future depends on the survival of the wisest and on leadership that is based on inner values. Only leadership that enfolds the full potential of society will create true excellence for a new humanity."

Deepak Chopra
Author, Book of Secrets

"Tom Kuczmarski doesn't have a patent on innovation, but he should have."

Charles P. Carey
Chairman, Chicago Board of Trade

"Apples Are Square is a rare and powerful book that provides a window into the views, thoughts, and soul of exceptional leaders in simple yet compelling language."

Dr. Surinder Kumar
Chief Innovation Officer, Wm Wrigley Jr. Company, author of Riding the Blue Train

"Susan and Thomas Kuczmarski have made an important contribution to our understanding of leadership with their new book.  Apples Are Square: Thinking Differently About Leadership, is a work of great substance and relevance that provides not just an entry point for talking about models of leadership, but real profiles of those who have used these models to transform their own organizations and the people within them."

Donald P. Jacobs
Dean Emeritus, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

"Apples Are Square is the key to the next frontier of corporate performance and productivity. The Kuczmarskis challenge us to move past the numbers and quarterly reports to what really matters - the leadership principles that guide our companies and our people."

David Palfenier
President, Grocery Foods, ConAgra Foods, Inc.