Alan Weiss-- author, international consultant, and high-demand keynote speaker-- is the founder and president of Summit Consulting Group. His clients have included Hewlett-Packard, State Street Corp., Fleet Bank, Coldwell Banker, Merrill Lynch, American Press Institute, Chase, Mercedes-Benz, GE, and American Institute of Architects. He is the author of twenty-one books, including The Ultimate Consultant (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001) and Getting Started in Consulting (John Wiley & Sons, 2000). Weiss resides with his wife Maria in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.