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William F. Brandt Jr. is a co-founder and former CEO of American Woodmark Corporation, formed in 1980 to acquire Boise Cascade Corporation’s kitchen cabinet business. American Woodmark is the third largest cabinet manufacturer nationally, serving The Home Depot, Lowe’s and major builders. Sales have grown from $35 million to over $600 million. The company went public in 1986.
Brandt has written for numerous publications, and consults and teaches in the areas of CEO coaching, leadership development, strategic planning and cultural change. He has served on a number of for-profit and non-profit boards including a university, health-care system, hospital, and an international humanitarian aid organization.
William Brandt has degrees from Dartmouth College and an MBA from its Amos Tuck School of Business. He is Executive-in-Residence at the Harry F. Byrd School of Business Administration, Shenandoah University, where he is also a member of their Adjunct Faculty. He lives with his wife in Winchester, Virginia.
Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite
Compass: Creating Exceptional Organizations: A Leader’s Guide was written by William F. Brandt, a man with an exceptional skill in strategic planning. In his book he shares his expertise for creating a successful company. As the name suggests, this book is a compass pointing leaders in the right direction. Regardless of the size or type of company, this book has the tools needed to grow your company into the best it can be. Many books have been written on this topic and many had fruitful ideas; however, this book stands tall among the others. This book goes beyond the idea of self-regard to interest in the local and world community. What could be a greater goal for an organization than to benefit humankind?
There are 5 main sections to this book:
1. Case Study
2. Essays
3. Lessons
4. An Interview
5. Implementation
The author begins with an introduction which offers an overview. He introduces the Key Elements of An Exceptional Organization.
Purpose: Why the organization exists.
Inspiration/Action: the work required to achieve our purpose.
Vision Driven Culture: the values, beliefs, traditions, and processes that guide behavior.
Value Based People: the organization's members that do the work i.e "right person /right job.”
Compass is well written and, more importantly, easy to understand. The theory is practical and displays common sense. This type of book is very difficult to write in layman's terms and yet the author managed to do this efficiently. I believe the ideas in this book can be used beyond typical business. I can see this being used in any number of organizations.
