My Big Thanks

Writing a book is a deeply collaborative endeavor. It is a blissful storm of beautiful accidents that serendipitously show you the right direction. For Overfished Ocean Strategy, the first of these accidents happened when the team of 2degrees Network (a community of managers dedicated to “making sustainable business happen”) asked me to write a series of blog posts for their site. One slow August morning, I decided to send this series to Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, the managing director of Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Jeevan nudged the idea further, asking Neal Maillet, the editorial director, to take a look at the text. Neal spent four long months working with me on every aspect of the book proposal and championing it within the BK editorial team. With this amazing care, the original idea I offered went through a fundamental transformation. Making this project relevant for mainstream business became my key task.

That transformation would have been impossible without another powerful nudge. Yevgeniy Feld, a commanding businessman and one of the most remarkable human beings I know, spent countless hours sharing with me how the world of investment works. Yevgeniy’s strong convictions solidified my resolve to make a strategic framework that speaks to the reality of the global market, and I am deeply thankful for his care and honesty.

Once the initial idea grew into a solid book proposal, the Berrett-Koehler Editorial Board offered wonderful advice for making it work. At one of the discussions, Steve Piersanti, BK’s president and publisher, suggested that I revise the book title. That is how Overfished Ocean Strategy got its name. To this day, the entire team at Berrett-Koehler Publishers and their partners continues to hold my hand and walk me through every step, and I am ever more grateful and inspired by their professionalism, passion, and humanity. My big thanks go to Elissa Rabellino, who edited this text with great patience and care, and to Naomi Schiff, who led the entire design and production process.

While the book emerged in the course of a few months, the ideas presented here are built on the work of many demanding years and many extraordinary companies. I am grateful and honored to have a chance to share some of the stories of these pioneering enterprises, and my heartfelt thanks go to Dr. Thomas Becker, vice president government affairs, BMW Group; Patrice Briol, group HR director, Knauf Insulation; Sandi Cesko, cofounder and president, Studio Moderna; Jenniffer Deckard, CEO and president, Fairmount Minerals; Chuck Fowler, director and chairman of the Executive Committee, Fairmount Minerals; Mariana Gheorghe, CEO, OMV Petrom; Gerhard Roiss, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV Group; Iztok Seljak, president of the Management Board of Hidria; and Matevz Slokar, founder of S Project. Coca-Cola Company’s continued support of my work and for me as the holder of the Coca-Cola Chair of Sustainable Development at IEDC-Bled School of Management is an amazing gift of intellectual freedom, and I extend big thanks to Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO, and his entire team for this ongoing cooperation.

Many of the ideas presented here have been developed during executive education courses, conferences, summits, speeches, and unique global projects. I am forever indebted to these wonderful organizations and their inspiring leaders: the IEDC-Bled School of Management, particularly President and Dean Danica Purg and Academic Director Nenad Filipovic; the amazing and inspiring Challenge:Future community, and in particular its founder and president and a dear, immensely courageous friend, Andreja Kodrin; the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and particularly the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value, wonderfully led by my forever adored guides, mentors and teachers David Cooperrider, Ron Fry, Chris Laszlo, and Roger Saillant and supported by the most amazing Advisory Board, which I am proud to be a member of; INSEAD-CEDEP, and in particular Director of General Management Programme Martin Flash; and the wonderful TEDx teams in Slovenia and Austria, with special thanks to Matej Golob.

Throughout the years, an amazing community of thinkers, colleagues, and friends has been supporting my life and work in many different ways. I am deeply grateful to Alibek Belyalov, Alena Chernenko, Dmitry Chernenko, Cristina Doros, Barbara Ferjan, Roman Finadeev, Ante Glavas, Lindsey Godwin, Jonathan Gosling, Maria Gudkova, Deniz Kirazci, Aleksandra Kosak, Marko Lucic, Yulia Mikina, Henry Mintzberg, Matthew Moehle, Yulia Oleinik, Aljaz Podlogar, Katalina Pojoga, Nicolae Pojoga, Niko Rakovec, Petra Rakovec, Alexey Redichev, Irina Redicheva, Linda Robson, Judy Rodgers, Natalia Sahanovschi-Iuras, Michael Uchitel, Olga Veligurska, my intellectual soul mates—the students and alumni of the doctorate program of the Organizational Behavior Department at Case Weatherhead—and the entire AYL crowd.

Finally, there is no way that I can find the right words to thank my family for everything that they are. As they graciously move through this turbulent life, every day they continue to show me what a life of courage and meaning really looks like. My gratitude and my love to all of you: Lidiya Zhexembayeva, Timur Zhexembayev, Tatyana Nurgazina, Marat Zhexembayev, Olga Zhexembayeva, Alen Nurgazin, Iskander Nurgazin, Miras Nurgazin, Vladimir Zhexembayev, Irina Zhexembayeva, Enessa Gucker, Hans Gucker, Emma Jernovoi, and Slavyan Jernovoi (we really miss you!).

And there are two more. These amazing magicians endured my countless days of seclusion, served as hand models and photographers, debated key points, suffered through chapter readings, and held me together when all seemed useless. The two of them are my masters, my coaches, my most important benchmarks, my deepest reasons, my endless inspirations. To my husband, Vladimir Jernovoi, and daughter, Lila Jernovoi, I give my love and soul. Thank you.