Scott Wozniak

In Make Your Brand Legendary, Scott Wozniak provides the tools every company needs to create a legendary brand with raving fans.

Apple. Harley-Davidson. Chick-fil-A. Disney. When you see or hear these names, something in us lights up. Sure, we know their product and service offerings, but a huge number of consumers have a much deeper, more profound, and even emotional connection to these businesses. These aren’t just brands; they’re legendary brands. And they don’t just have satisfied customers; they create raving fans—true believers who will buy every product, who serve as brand evangelists, who even tattoo corporate logos on their bodies, and who will fight to defend the honor and reputation of these multibillion-dollar corporations.

Why? What turns otherwise reserved people into raving fans of a computer company or chicken sandwich chain? It’s not magic. It’s not a lucky product. And it’s not something reserved for consumer brands with luxury products. For twenty years Scott and his team have been working with leaders in a wide variety of industries, from manufacturing to professional service to enterprise software. No matter the industry, some companies have gone beyond delivering a good product to delivering a great customer experience.

In Make Your Brand Legendary, Scott Wozniak leverages his decades of brand-building experience within some of America’s most-loved companies to show you how to create world-class customer experience. After years of battle-tested work, Scott realized that there was a set of systems that all the great brands used to create raving fans. He captured these practices in an engine diagram, a simple tool to help leaders become legends. If you use this approach, you can build a Customer Experience Engine that will create those same kinds of raving fans that always seem to dominate dinner-party conversations and water-cooler chats. Only this time, they’ll be talking about your business.

"Scott is a great storyteller! How to Fail as a Leader is not only a great story about leadership but entertaining as well. It's not often when you have fun reading a book and get to learn important lessons about leading at the same time."

--Howard Behar, President Starbucks International, Retired

THE BOOK
This is not your typical leadership fable. The leadership principles and practices have been tested in some of the biggest and best organizations in the world, from giant global companies to Silicon Valley-funded tech start-ups to international non-profits. But that’s not the really different part. (There are other leadership best-sellers who have a deep foundation.) The first real difference is that the action in this fable takes place in a fictional medieval kingdom, because everything is more fun with swords and horses. Second, the action of the story is real action, not an increase in stock price or a drop in employee morale. There are mysteries, ambushes and, of course, sword fights. Third, there isn’t a mentor who makes it easy for our heroes by scribbling on a napkin the three steps to great leadership. These two leaders have to figure out leadership while things go from bad to worse. And they don’t agree on what leading well means. So they learn their lessons the way a lot of us do: the hard way.

THE STORY
Once upon a time, two new leaders were determined to prove they had what it took to be a good leader. Then they discovered that leading well is harder than they thought, especially when your co-leader is wrong about what it means to lead well. And that was before they got ambushed. Not metaphorically. Ambush, as in surprise attack from an enemy army. That’s because this story happens in a fictional medieval kingdom and these two leaders are the military commanders of what was supposed to be a sleepy little fort.

Addoc, the new fort commander, believes that great leaders motivate people to pursue a grand vision; leadership is about relationships. But Eldin, his second in command, believes that actions speak louder than words; leadership is about getting great results. They both have a chance to test their leadership approach. And they both fail. But they also both learn a lot.
The story is exciting all by itself. But there are deep insights and practical tips woven into each chapter. This is book is a case study on leadership, so to speak, with swords. There are also short debrief sections at the end of each chapter, to shine a light on what just happened, along with optional discussion questions for small groups who want to read though this book together.

In essence, this is an adventure novel fused with a leadership book that has group study elements sprinkled on top. If you want to take your leadership to the next level and enjoy an adventure story at the same time then this might be the most fun personal development book you’ve ever read.

After all, who says learning about leadership has to be boring?

“Wes, I’m doing this for your own good. Certainty is the name of the game right now.”

“Dirk, with all due respect, we don’t need certainty. We need to do something new. Now.”

Wes knew that his idea was worth trying. But he also knew stepping over this line in the sand would be a huge risk. Dirk would have Wes’ head on a pike when he found out. And that was if the app was successful. He didn’t even want to think about what might happen if it didn’t come together—and quickly.

Having a good idea isn’t enough. Every great idea eventually degenerates into hard work. But how do you lead from the middle? How do you do something that has real impact when you have limits on your money, time and even your authority?

You follow the Cornerstone PATH.

The Cornerstone PATH is an execution methodology. It’s about getting things done. As much as we might hate to admit it, every great idea eventually degenerates into hard work. Great ideas are hard to come by, and executing them successfully can be even harder still. And it’s getting harder every year. The solution isn’t merely to work harder. Activity doesn’t automatically lead to accomplishment.

Our organizations are getting bigger and more complex. Our technology is getting more complex. Our customers are more savvy and skeptical than ever. And our teams are more diverse and decentralized than ever. Thanks to the Internet, it’s not uncommon for even small companies to have employees, contractors, and customers scattered around the world. We even offer more complex products and services, bundling hardware, intellectual property, and human services.

Executing big projects is getting exponentially harder year after year. But it can be done. Based on the lessons learned from executing many highly complicated, technical projects, the Cornerstone PATH steers project owners like you around the pitfalls that even the smart leaders fall into, getting you to your goal faster and without collateral damage.

If you have a good idea for a big, complex project, and you have to execute on time and on budget, the Cornerstone PATH will lead you there.