Peter Kozodoy - Honest to Greatness

Contents

Praise for Honest to Greatness

Honest to Greatness is a timely read for anyone who wants to engage with consumers in todays market. Peter Kozodoy sheds light on why some companies soar and others falterit is as fascinating as it is informative!

Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank star and founder of The Corcoran Group

Honest to Greatness should be required reading for any aspiring leader. Filled with jaw-dropping stories and packed with actionable business tips, this book forces you out of your comfort zone and inspires you to make huge changes in your life and business!

Richie Norton, author of The Power of Starting Something Stupid

This is honestly one of the best books Ive read in quite some time!

Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times #1 bestselling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Wont Get You There

Honest to Greatness explains why leaders need to be honest with others, but most importantly, honest with themselves. The book is chock-full of examples from companies like Dominos, Quicken Loans, The Ritz-Carlton, and Netflix, where leader-led cultures, focused on honest practices like learning from customers and frontline employees, led to transformative breakthroughs. These stories show not only how honesty leads to the best decisions, but also how honesty is critical to gaining the trust that is so crucial to long-term success.

Dan Hesse, former CEO of Sprint

The old rules of business no longer work in todays complicated environment. Only the most honest, transparent leaders and organizations will thrive into the futureand thats where Honest to Greatness comes in. You cant afford to miss this book.

Dave Kerpen, New York Times bestselling author of Likeable Social Media

So well written, so timely. This book is a refreshing deep dive into the transformative power of total transparency. A masterpiece!

Gino Wickman, author of Traction and Entrepreneurial Leap

Honest to Greatness copyright 2020 by Peter Kozodoy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

BenBella Books, Inc.

10440 N. Central Expressway

Suite 800

Dallas, TX 75231

www.benbellabooks.com

Send feedback to

BenBella is a federally registered trademark.

First E-Book Edition: August 2020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kozodoy, Peter, 1986- author.

Title: Honest to greatness: how todays greatest leaders use brutal honesty to achieve massive success / by Peter Kozodoy.

Description: Dallas, Texas : BenBella Books, Inc., [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020006140 (print) | LCCN 2020006141 (ebook) | ISBN 9781948836500 (hardback) |ISBN 9781948836753 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Success in business. | Leadership. | Entrepreneurship.

Classification: LCC HF5386 .K7785 2020 (print) | LCC HF5386 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/09dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006140

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006141

Distributed to the trade by Two Rivers Distribution, an Ingram brand www.tworiversdistribution.com

Special discounts for bulk sales are available. Please contact .

CONTENTS

W hat does honesty really mean to you?

Do you believe that honesty really is the best policy?

Do you believe that honesty can drive long-term success?

Are you fed up with dishonest people and dishonest businesses being successful and seemingly getting ahead while honest people and businesses lag behind?

In Honest to Greatness: How Todays Greatest Leaders Use Brutal Honesty to Achieve Massive Success, Peter Kozodoy takes a bold and refreshing look at the importance of honesty in todays business world.

You may react to the title with a roll of your eyes or an If only that were true. If so, you highlight the need for Peters message... now more than ever.

We live and work in a society where the phrase Honesty is the best policy is usually followed by except when...

Despite making excuses for dishonesty in the business world, a stark dichotomy exists in our personal lives. When a beloved friend or family member deceives us, we take grave personal offense, since honesty plays such a pivotal role in most of our personal values; yet we live in a business world that has created a system in which both public and private organizations can lie, cheat, and steal, all from behind an Oz-like curtain, and most of us shrug our shoulders in apathy as we chalk it up to thats the way things are.

When it comes to deceit, no one can claim immunity. Lying, however horrible we deem it to be, is an innate human condition. Sometimes we actively stretch the truth through rationalization or exaggeration to the point that we even believe the embellished version of the truth ourselves.

I remember a main stage speaker who owned over $15 million in real estate and told his audience he owned $100 million. As he left the stage, I asked him why he felt the need to exaggerate (lie) when the truth was good enough and quite impressive in its own right. His answer was to sell more to them.

Unfortunately, there are too many so-called experts who share this practice, to the point that I have lost faith in many of them and have chosen to not share the stage with them anymore. I look for people who walk the talk, not fake it til you make it!

It seems each week we hear of another business being outed for corruption, fraud, or deceitcompanies that thought the short-term rewards justified their actions and dishonesty but found out they created long-term devastation for themselves, their investors, and their customers. Peter reveals the inside stories of some of these failures.

Today, the internet, instant news, and social media increase the transparency and public awareness of public figures and companies. In addition, younger generations are demanding social responsibility in the companies they support. This contributed to a tremendous growth in Conscious Capitalism. In fact, I teach that the most successful businesses either