Book co-authored by local woman gaining praise worldwide

LACONIA — A book gaining laurels in the business world is co-authored by a Laconia woman. How did that come about? It started almost 20 years ago on the golf course.

The book, “Leadership Development — The Next Curve to Flatten!” is listed as a bestseller by online retailers such as Amazon and iBooks, and has been lauded as the best business book of the year by the Japanese Chief Human Resources Association as well as other similar organizations around the world. The book challenges existing leadership development processes as “barely adequate” prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserts that the most successful firms of the future will have found new ways to grow their human capital.

It is the eighth book authored by Tom Casey, a seasoned consultant and Special Forces veteran. It’s the first book by his co-author, Claire Hebert-Dow, who is beginning a second life as a writer after retiring from her own business career.

Hebert-Dow said that she first made Casey’s acquaintance 19 years ago, while waiting for her turn to tee-off on the 7th hole at the Lakeview Golf Course in Belmont. She was playing alone – so no one could witness her miscues, she said – and Casey was playing behind her. She was trying to keep it that way, but a slower player ahead of her allowed him to catch up and congratulate her on a putt she sank on the fifth hole.

“He came up and shook my hand,” and the two each felt an immediate connection.

“Sometimes you look at the universe, and you don’t know what it’s going to bring you and what it’s going to take away,” Hebert-Dow explained. She and Casey have been friends ever since, close friends at times, other times going for years without contact.

Hebert-Dow reached out to her friend earlier this year. She had finished her master’s degree in English and noticed that Casey’s blog posts, while full of insight, could use some polish. She offered to copy edit his writing for his blogs, and he accepted. When he told her that he wanted to publish the writings as a book, with her listed as co-author, she tried turning him down.

“Here I am, strictly a Laconia girl, and here’s this guy who’s connected around the world,” Hebert-Dow said. “I felt that I didn’t deserve it. He said, ‘Yes, you do.’”

She said that she understands now why he insisted. Casey doesn’t just write and consult about leadership development, it’s a lifestyle for him. She had told him previously that she was writing a memoir that she hoped to publish it, so listing her as co-author meant that she could show publishers that she was the genuine article.

“I’m a very dear friend of his, he’s looking to help me,” she said. “I had to accept his gift.”

And now, because of his gift, Hebert-Dow’s writing is being read around the world.

“I was incredulous that I would have this opportunity, without even asking for it,” she said. “I’m very grateful and I hope that I can make him proud.”