Book excerpt: "Unreasonable Leadership provides a blueprint of how to lead and forge change in all types of economic environments. Gary Chartrand's powerful message of redefining the game, creating new pathways where there are none, leading without fear and mobilizing teams to coalesce around a goal is a timeless tool and is a must read for all who would call themselves leaders." Carla Harris, author of Expect To Win "Unreasonable Leadership should be required reading in every business school. What Gary Chartrand did to build Acosta into a industry leading sales and Marketing Juggernaut is simply remarkable and so is this book." Jon Gordon, Best-selling author of The Energy Bus and Soup "This is a smart, thought-provoking approach to leadership and how to create the ideal environment for bringing about positive change and achieving meaningful results." Mitt Romney, Former Governor of Massachusetts Gary Chartrand's Unreasonable Leadership provides a blueprint for leaders who are driving change not only in the corporate sector but in the social sector as well. Gary describes what it takes to be a true pioneer, to achieve unprecedented, ground breaking results despite the complexity of the work and the enormity of the challenges. We've learned through Teach for America that Unreasonable Leadership is exactly what is required to transform our entrenched public education systems. Wendy Kopp, CEO and Founder of Teach For America Achieving a vision that seemed nearly impossible, having the courage to make difficult decisions, and leading with conviction transformed a company and its entire industry. Unreasonable Leadership charts the growth of Acosta Sales and Marketing, a food brokerage firm that grew from a one-state operation employing 11 people to an international sales and marketing agency employing a staff of more than 16,000 in the US and Canada. During a 12-year span, company sales grew from $3 billion to $60 billion. How did this happen? Acosta Chairman Gary Chartrand followed the advice of George Bernard Shaw: "All progress comes from unreasonable people." Chartrand's success as an unreasonable leader testifies to the value of setting a bold agenda, never being afraid to ask, and the critical importance of molding a corporate culture. His personal saga shows what can be accomplished no matter the odds of what "conventional wisdom" labels as impossible.