Linda Dunkel Among the Winners of Top National Award Honoring Exceptional and Inspirational Business Leaders

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) September 28, 2006 — The President and CEO of Cambridge-based Interaction Associates, Linda Dunkel, is a winner of the 2006 Best Bosses Award — a national honor that recognizes the most innovative and inspirational leaders of midsized and small businesses across America.

The Best Bosses Award is sponsored by the nonprofit organization, Winning Workplaces, a nationally known clearinghouse for best practices in workplace excellence and innovative people practices.

Dunkel is among 18 winners of the 2006 Best Bosses competition from more than 100 nominees in a process that looks closely at leadership style, management effectiveness, employee satisfaction, company benefits, employee investment, and other measures. The winners were announced on September 27 at the Best Bosses Conference and Celebration in Chicago — an event sponsored by Winning Workplaces.

"Great workplaces create healthy businesses," said Mary Clark, executive director of Winning Workplaces. "Nearly all of this year's winners — including Linda Dunkel — run companies with some sort of employee ownership and practice open book management. These leaders realize that metrics are driving their business, and the more you can put in front of employees, the better able they are to make the right decisions for the business," said Clark.

Dunkel has been President and CEO at Interaction Associates (IA) since 2002 and is widely respected within the company for a highly effective facilitative leadership style and strong instincts in leading IA's aggressive growth over the past four years. Interaction Associates is a leading innovator in learning, leadership development, and performance improvement solutions for Fortune 1000 companies. The firm serves global clients and has offices in Cambridge, MA and San Francisco.

"Linda's keen and consistent leadership has been a key asset in our company's growth after the economic downturn following 9/11," said Marybeth Tahar, Chair of the Board for Interaction Associates. "She personifies the qualities that the Best Bosses award honors, especially the award's emphasis on leaders who achieve impressive business results through enlightened people practices. Linda motivates and inspires everyone in our company to live our values daily, especially in her commitment to open and transparent leadership and decision-making," said Tahar.

Best Bosses winners are recognized for their simultaneous commitment to business growth and to fostering enlightened and committed employees empowered for success.

"I'm deeply honored to have won such a prominent award and to have such a recognition along with the unique and incredibly motivating group of winners from around the U.S.," said Linda Dunkel, President and CEO of Interaction Associates. "I'm honored to work for a company that helps clients foster truly collaborative, empowering, and engaged leaders and teams. And I am grateful to work with incredibly smart, passionate, and committed colleagues — without whom this honor could not have been possible. I share this award with them," said Dunkel.

Winners of the Best Bosses competition are chosen by a panel of judges consisting of business leaders, academics from major business schools, past winners, the board of Winning Workplaces, and the organization's senior staff. Profiles of some winners and additional information on the Best Bosses award will be published in the October issue of Fortune Small Business.

The Best Bosses selection process is grounded in a thorough analysis of quantitative and qualitative aspects of the nominees' companies — including the general health and growth of the business; nominees' leadership track record and style; the manner in which nominees engage and motivate employees; and intensive personal interviews with employees, customers, and advisors.

About Interaction Associates
Interaction Associates, Inc. is a leader in learning and performance improvement. For nearly 40 years, it has helped clients build collaborative capability to produce extraordinary results, improve critical business processes, and create and maintain productive work relationships. Interaction Associates' work benefits hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world.

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